FF91 image via Faraday Future

Kings County officials this week traveled to the Southern California town of Gardena to meet with executive staff of Faraday Future as well as company founder Jia Yuetin to help make plans for the startup’s Hanford assembly plant.

Demolition work on the interior of the old Pirelli facility in the Hanford Industrial Park is underway as construction drawings are being completed for the remodel of the sprawling 1 million square-foot plant that will soon get underway.

Member of the Kings County Board of Supervisors Doug Verboon joined Kings EDC President John Lehn and Hanford City Manager Darrel Pyle and others from Kings County for an April 10 tour of the Gardena facility, where work is underway on the speedy electric car, the FF 91.

Verboon said he saw 12 cars at the plant and got to sit in one of them. ”It was very impressive — this operation is for real,” he said.

He added that he was told the company’s investment funding was secure, and they were looking to start assembly of the high-tech electric car in Hanford late this year.

Touring the plant, local officials saw employees busy at different stations making parts using 3D imagery. ”There is lots of technology on display.”

Verboon says now the focus of the company is for Kings County agencies to partner with Faraday to get the word out that jobs are on the way locally.

“Right now they have 700 employees in the LA area, but after they install assembly-line machinery in Hanford, set for May 21, they will need to hire some 54 employees in Hanford and up to 750 here over a period of time,” he said.

“They need help finding hotel rooms or places for employees to stay,” said Verboon, who is also looking to coordinate efforts with placement agencies and junior colleges.

“They already have a list of about 500 who are looking for work.”

Verboon added that the company “has a tight timeline” and expects to meet again with the same local team April 13. “We want to handle it the same as we did for the Surf Ranch project — a dedicated team who will answer all their questions” and ease the rollout of their business here.