Item 6 - Tesla Gigafactory Response to Commissioners Sept 2 — original pdf

Backup

Hello Amanda – As follow-up to our presentation to the Commission on 7/26/22 and to the questions you submitted, please review our 2021 Impact Report, https://www.tesla.com/ns_videos/2021-tesla-impact-report.pdf , which answers the majority of the questions that were posed. Additionally, please see the bulleted items below that relate directly to the Tesla Texas Gigafactory in the areas of Community Investment, Staffing, Workforce Development, Recruiting, Environmental Progress and Community Engagement. Thank you. GIGAFACTORY TEXAS The following Tesla Texas Gigafactory highlights relate to our progress in Austin as stated in our 2021 Travis County Annual Report and the Semi-Annual HUB report for the period from October 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022. Investment and Staffing • Tesla invested $2.7 billion dollars of real and business property in Travis County. • Tesla exceeded its investment for the year by over $2.2 billion. • Tesla employs over 3,500 employees at Gigafactory Texas, 82% of which are Travis County residents. • Tesla exceeded its hiring for the year by 1,524 workers. • $50.6 million dollars was paid to Historically Underutilized Businesses (“HUBs”). Workforce Development and Recruiting • Tesla kicked off workforce development programs and initiated recruiting outreach with several greater Austin educational institutions and school districts, including: o Working with Del Valle to start a multi-year Advanced Manufacturing vocational pathway, financially supporting the hiring of 3 district level positions, and launching the Manufacturing Development Program for local graduates to start a career while continuing their education.  The first students from Del Valle High School are now working full-time at Tesla  and we recently expanded our program to Bastrop and Manor ISDs. In May 2022, we had 77 students sign on to the program from Del Valle, Bastrop and Manor ISDs. o Partnering with Austin Community College to launch the first START Manufacturing program to train future Tesla Maintenance Technicians, as well as collaborating on a $1.9 million dollar Texas Workforce Commission grant to train hundreds of local community members in advanced manufacturing careers. o Tesla’s Internship Program, which hired 268 interns from Texas into Tesla Operations across North America and hosted 48 events that included students from Texas colleges and universities. Environmental Progress  Tesla has installed hundreds of EV chargers at Gigafactory Texas.  The Gigafactory’s rooftop solar panel installation has begun, with 15MW-DC of capacity expected by the end of 2022.  Tesla’s construction of a 500,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system has started, which will offset potable water demand by an estimated 7 million gallons a year.  Green stormwater facilities, including biofiltration and a wet pond, have been constructed.  Tesla plans for a 125 MW battery storage facility that will support the Texas grid.  As part of the initial phase of Tesla’s ecological uplift plan, the Tesla team is nearly finished with planting 6,000 new native trees, 20,000 ground cover plantings, restoring over 70 acres of natural prairie habitats, and creating 20 acres of shallow water habitats. Community Engagement  We have reached out to over 40 environmental groups and have met with 30 of those environmental groups to discuss our ecological plans.  Partnered with Breakthrough Austin as part of the Community Internship Program to bring on high school students as Tesla interns.  Collaborating with Girlstart on their Summer Camps and After School Programs.  Collaborating with Austin Voices for Education and Youth on their Innovation Academy Summer Camp.  Held a Food Drive for the Central Texas Food Bank during the holidays  Collaborated with EcoRise where they were the recipient of Tesla’s Earth Day fundraiser. Funds were contributed to their micro-grant program to initiate environmental change in their communities.  Collaborating with Latinitas on their Club Latinitas Program.  We funded and constructed a fire lane for the Austin’s Colony HOA Community Center.  Worked with Prado HOA to clear and reseed a portion of their property near the factory.  Tesla is sponsoring the Del Valle P-TECH program in Advanced Manufacturing. Including tuition assistance, equipment donations, mentorships, etc. o o To ensure student success, Tesla is creating a mentorship program as well as sponsoring a 5th year (providing up to $200,000 in tuition assistance) to ensure all students have equitable access to achieving their associates degree. o Del Valle has over 90 students enrolled in the inaugural class launching in Fall 2022, with Tesla supporting with equipment donations, mentorships, and infrastructure.   o All students enrolled will graduate high school with their diploma & a Level 1 Certificate in Advanced Manufacturing from Austin Community College. o Upon graduation, students will be 14 credits short of an associate degree in Advanced Manufacturing, so Tesla will sponsor a 5th year to ensure all students enrolled in the Del Valle P-TECH program can achieve their degree at Austin Community College.  Tesla collaborates with numerous local organizations to identify and hire talent including Skillpoint Alliance, Capital IDEA, Goodwill & American Youthworks.  Tesla renovated 3 classrooms at ACC’s Riverside Campus and donated 12 Fanuc robots for advanced manufacturing training, totaling $869,000 in in-kind donations and building improvements and now hosts upgrading programs for community members and new employees on state-of-the-art equipment  Tesla is working with ACC to provide free ESL classes for any community member. Walter R. Gonzales | Public Policy and Business Development Gigafactory Texas – Austin (m) 415.728.3646 | wgonzales@tesla.com