The Imperium3 lithium-ion battery manufacturing company says they now have enough funding to set up shop in Endicott. The start-up company has gone through the program at the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator and will now be moving into the Huron Campus. 

Imperium3 New York, or IM3NY, builds lithium-ion batteries for use in electric cars and other clean-energy powered vehicles and items. The company expects to hire 150 workers right away, with the potential for thousands of jobs to come to Endicott in the coming years. 

"Then in Phase 2, we expect a few thousand jobs because we scale it and multiply it by 32. So, Phase 2 is really massive. So, this is our first step in the door and it opens huge opportunities for us," says IM3NY Chairman Dr. Shailesh Upreti. 

Upreti is the founder of C4V, a Binghamton-based company that holds the patent for the environmentally-friendly lithium-ion batteries Imperium3 plans to build. Upreti has worked with Binghamton University Professor Stanley Whittingham, who won a Nobel Prize for his work on lithium-ion batteries. 

The Imperium3 manufacturing plant is separate from the SungEel battery recycling facility previously planned for Endicott. SungEel was met with pushback from residents and elected officials who were worried about its impact on the environment and safety. Upreti says Imperium3's product and production process are safe and considered green.