The Loveland City Council unanimously approved a $100,000 incentive deal for startup car company Lightning Hybrids to create 50 jobs in Loveland.
Lightning Hybrids will collect its first $50,000 from the city when it signs the agreement, possibly by Aug. 1.
It then has 24 months to have 25 new employees working for at least one year and paid no less than $65,000 annually, said Betsey Hale, Loveland's business development manager.
If the company meets the timeline outlined in the deal, it will get the second $50,000 to again hire 25 employees over 24 months with the same provisions.
If it doesn't hit the timeframes, the city can charge the company $2,000 for each job it did not create in the agreed period of time, Hale said.
Lightning Hybrids was launched in downtown Loveland last year by local entrepreneurs to build a hydraulic-biodiesel car that can get 100 miles per gallon. Since then, the company also developed a retrofit hydraulic system to install in a variety of trucks and cars that is ready to go to market.
The first Lightning Hybrids prototype sports car was parked outside of council chambers for officials to see.
Lightning Hybrids co-founder Tim Reeser told the City Council on Tuesday the company is already shopping for manufacturing space in downtown Loveland and hopes to have 477 new jobs in the city during the next five years.
Source: Coloradoan
