McAlester City leaders said a $164 Million partnership with American Li-Ion to bring a battery factory to town will spark new growth for the community. American Li-Ion is a company that takes used batteries and turns them into new ones for laptops, phones, and drones.

Janai Riddle lives in McAlester and works downtown at Pink Pop. Riddle said the new factory would be great for the community.

"It's a way to get us to expand, more population, get different businesses, bring other bigger businesses in," said Riddle.

Hannah Clunn, who lives near McAlester, agreed.

"Job opportunities are slim, so making a decent amount of money would be great," said Clunn.

Kevin Hobbie, the company president, said the building process will keep things local.

"We're going to use local welders, local dirt w

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