When Lindsey Leach was hired as a production lead at the NextStar Energy battery plant, meeting with company CEO Danies Lee for tea wasn’t on her list of expectations.
Teatime with the top brass is just one of the many different ways the 300-plus workers already on the payroll have discovered the South Korean corporate giant LG approaches work.
“He (Lee) wants to know each employee,” Leach said. “He wants to know what drew you here, about your family and what are your ambitions at NextStar.
“They touch base with you. They ask about the growing pains you’re experiencing in your job.
“I’m low on the totem pole. To always have someone calling back within 24 hours with a solution is amazing.”
Lee holds his ‘tea breaks’ with different employees from 3-3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The rest of his senior management team are equally visible and available on their daily tours and talks with employees scattered around NextStar’s massive site.
Leach said the workplace culture the company has imported is already fostering the sense of loyalty and collaboration that has served as the cornerstone of LG’s operations.
“It’s unlike any place I’ve ever worked before,” said Leach, who previously was employed by a Windsor manufacturing firm that supplies non-automotive customers in the U.S.
“There’s a different energy here. The people are very calm and patient, very focused on understanding and the process.
“I love these people. They’re like friends.”
With July 19 marking the first-year anniversary of the signing of the joint venture agreement between the plant’s owners LG Energy Solution and Stellantis, the company is completing construction and in the final testing stages before beginning production at its battery module factory early this fall.
Lee expects the hiring process for the 2,500 employees needed for the cell factory to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 or early next year with cell production targeted to commence in mid-2025.
“We value our employees,” explained Lee of the time his team spends engaged with workers. “They are our most important asset.
“Right now, we have over 325 people on the payroll. They play a critical role in getting this factory up and running.
“I was uncertain at first what people would be available. The people we have are passionate and willing to learn.
“I’m much more satisfied and certain now than a year ago. I think we (LG Energy Solution) proved that we’ve made the right choice in coming here.”
Recruitment specialist Cristina Mazza was NextStar’s first hire in Windsor and has overseen the building of the permanent local workforce. She admits she was drawn to NextStar for pretty much the same reasons most employees express.
“I wanted to see a positive transformation in this community by being part of this new industry from the ground up,” Mazza said.
“I graduated in 2007 when it was hard to get a job. It was depressing.
“I recognized in this company a huge opportunity for the community.”
Mazza, who worked in human resources and recruitment for a local Tier 1 automotive supplier before joining NextStar, said it was quickly made clear to her what the company’s priorities were.
“The first week (Lee) met with me and he wanted us to find the best employees, but he said they also must be happy when they get to work,” said Mazza, who noted the company has a specialist dedicated to the onboarding process to ensure all employees feel comfortable.
“Culture is number one here.”
Like the critical minerals and materials that go into making batteries, culture comes with a cost. NextStar hasn’t hesitated to invest in its talent whether it been overseas training or providing amenities and services that make life easier for its employees.
Among the onsite facilities/services for employees will be a heavily subsidized cafeteria offering a variety of fresh, healthy food options at reduced prices. Four meals a day will be offered at the plant, which will operate on a 24-hour basis.
In addition, employees will have access to a studio gym offering exercise, yoga and group activities, an on-site cafe, lactation rooms for nursing mothers and a learning centre.
NextStar is also forming a team whose task is to circulate through the company’s numerous buildings each day to ensure things are going smoothly for employees and to ferret out any issues that need addressing.
Regular accessibility to top management is also ensured with monthly town hall gatherings.
The company will also use the mountains of dirt piled up along County Road 22 during construction to create parks and trails onsite for employees to enjoy.
In an example of how NextStar has tried to respond to localized needs, the company is adding an on-site health clinic to its design plans.
“It wasn’t part of the original plans, but once we learned of the challenges some people have getting a doctor locally, we decided to add the clinic,” said NextStar Energy’s director of planning Sung Park. “It’ll have a doctor and a nurse.”
Park said the company is looking at additional services and will respond as issues arise.
Rather than view such services as a drag on the bottom line, he says LG Energy Solutions sees the investments as bulwarks against raids on its talent base and steps that make for a happier, more productive workforce.
“All these buildings and the machinery you see, that doesn’t form the real value of the company,” Park said as he drives his pickup truck around the cell production plant that is longer (590 metres) than the CN Tower is high.
“Our employees are the most valuable asset we have. We spend a lot on training them because not many people have experience working in this industry in this country.
“We lose them and it’s not easy or cheap to replace them.”
NextStar began training employees a year ago for the Windsor site.
It has sent dozens of new hires, particularly engineers, overseas for hands on training at LG Energy Solution plants in Poland and South Korea. With the launch of cell production in mid-2025, those trainees will become teachers for the next year in Windsor.
NextStar has also brought experienced employees from overseas to Windsor to train employees with support from local economic development organizations and post-secondary institutions.
“The training I received is like no other in any job I’ve had,” said cell quality engineer Sydney Pitre, who spent four weeks in Poland and another three in South Korea.
“From the beginning, it was very clear they were willing to invest in us. You don’t see that too often in other industries.
“It was very welcoming. You receive training from people who are educated and experienced who you can see really want you to succeed.”
Pitre, who has an automotive supply background, said in addition to getting hands-on experience in doing her new job, she has built relationships with people across the company.
“I can reach out to them even though they’re far away,” Pitre said. “That’s a huge takeaway from the training.
“In South Korea, I got to actually experience what I’ll be doing here.”
t was a bit of a homecoming for engineer Peter Kaczmarek, who spent six weeks at LG Energy Solution’s plant in Wroclaw, Poland — where he re-connected with his Polish relatives.
“Selling it to my wife with two young kids, that was the hardest part,” joked Kaczmarek, who left another OEM in Michigan to join NextStar.
“It was a real opportunity to grow personally and professionally. I’ve brought back so many lessons for my team.
“Bar none, it’s the best training I’ve had. At the OEM I was at (not Stellantis), they gave you half a day’s training — one day max — shadowing someone. Then it was, go swim with the rest of the fishes.”
While Pitre and Kaczmarek were familiar with the complexities of an auto plant, both were amazed at the sophisticated level of manufacturing that LG is introducing to this country.
The module factory, which has four of its nine assembly lines in place, is a marvel of automation and technology that will see the product handled entirely by robots controlled by workers astride the line.
Bright, clean with meticulous control of the climatic conditions, the assembly lines are completely enclosed in glass cases with sealed windows that allow only occasional access to ensure no contamination.
The cell plant will also have nine enclosed assembly lines that are hundreds of metres long mixing a chemical cocktail used to coat the aluminum and copper foil layers needed to form a battery cell.
“It’s so clean you could eat off the floor,” Kaczmarek said of the differences compared to other assembly plants he’s seen.
“The second thing that stands out is the complexity. The OEMs are combining thousands of parts into a car and it’s impressive.
“Here we’re building one thing — a battery, but it has so many parts, processes and intricacies.”
The lure of helping build a completely new industry has helped NextStar draw thousands of resumes from across Canada and outside the country.
While Lee declines to reveal specifics about the pay and benefits packages, NextStar’s careers’ page highlights medical, optical and dental plans, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance, remote and hybrid work options and ongoing career training development.
“We offer a competitive package,” Lee said. “By competitive, I mean we gauge how are employees react and they seem to be happy with what we offer.”
Applications are accepted through NextStar’s careers’ page (nextstar-energy.com/index.php/careers/).
Editor’s Note: This story is Part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2 is “What to know about module production, hiring, more as NextStar nears finish line.”