Gray Provides Project Services on Industry-Transforming Opportunity.

Ford selected Gray to support primary contractor Barton Malow Company for the construction of BlueOval SK Battery Park, a complex with two battery manufacturing plants for the company’s newest generation of electric vehicles. Gray’s scope includes all mechanical and electrical work, roofing, siding, and complete ISO 7 clean and dry room systems.

The finished batteries will power future Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. At peak, the plants’ annual lithium-ion battery production will reach a total capacity of more than 80 gigawatt hours. Production is slated to begin in 2025. At full capacity, the two plants will create a total of 5,000 new jobs—a major opportunity for Kentucky and its labor force.

The project is located on the Glendale Megasite, a 1,500-acre development tract in Glendale, a few miles outside Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The facilities will encompass 7 million s.f., and construction will require the erection of 80,000 tons of steel, the pouring of 400,000 cubic yards of concrete, and the movement of more than 5,200,000 cubic yards of earth.

Gray’s services for the facility’s 3-story clean and dry rooms require extreme attention to detail to maintain pristine conditions and precise humidity control for battery production and assembly. To accommodate BlueOval SK’s aggressive move-in and process line startup schedules, the Gray team is also designing and installing temporary walls as well as HVAC and dehumidifying systems.

Big Project Presents Big Opportunity to Give Back to Hardin County

Gray’s partnership with Barton Malow Company on the construction of BlueOval SK Battery Park is about much more than building a cutting-edge production complex. Long before the first shovel broke ground, Gray and Barton Malow teams were busy getting to know those in communities across Hardin County and applying industry skills and knowledge to meet their needs.

To date, these BlueOval SK project teams have contributed more than $357,000 in donations and work put in place for local organizations. These include the following and more:

• Donating raw timber to the Glendale Fire Department
• Coordinating a Christmas toy drive for local children in need
• Providing much-needed essentials for Kentucky flood victims
• Raising funds in a bowling event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass
• Upgrading Glendale’s sidewalks, special needs restrooms, and public park fixtures, as well as South Hardin’s little league ballpark
• Volunteering for Kentucky’s Heartland Volunteer Center, Friends of the Hardin County Animal Shelter, Feeding America, and Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services

Gray is honored to play a role in giving back to communities in the very region where the company got its start. The sheer scale of the BlueOval SK Battery Park project has afforded Gray and our customers and partners the time and resources to make a lasting difference in these Kentucky communities. The finished production complex will establish 5,000 new jobs for the surrounding communities, but beyond this economic opportunity, the chance to nurture communal and cultural bonds with the people of Hardin County over the course of several years will make a positive impact that reverberates into the future.