The U.S. Department of Energy announced Aug. 5 it would dole out $2.4 billon to aid in the manufacture of electric vehicles.

Entek International will receive about $13 million in funding, although the company will have to match it with another $13 million, as part of federal government's 50-50 cost share program.

"That was a good day for us," said Rick Pekala, vice president of research and development for Entek International.

Entek was a co-applicant for the funding with Johnson Controls Inc., which is based in Holland, Mich. The companies were awarded a total of $299.2 million, the largest amount of allocated funds.

Entek International will build battery lithium separators for lithium-ion batteries that can be used in hybrid and electric vehicles.

Pekala said the funding will be spent in two phases.

The first phase of the project, expanding the existing production line, is set to begin this October.

"The first phase will have a lot of local jobs for machine shops and electricians to design the equipment," Pekala said.

The second phase is the construction of a new production line, which the company hopes to do by late 2011 to 2012.

"The biggest cost is for the equipment and building expansion associated with the new production line," Pekala said. "That would create another 20 to 30 jobs within the Entek division."

Entek International has about 200 employees, 125 of whom are in England.

The company will continue to build lead acid battery separators.

Entek International

Entek International has about 200 employees, 125 of whom are in England. The company began producing separators for the automotive lead-acid batteries in 1987 and for lithium battery applications since 2001.