Three days after the Chamber of Commerce dinner, more than 80 employees across the Ascend Elements company profile were offered small severance packages and laid off by the company.
Of those, “about 20 positions” were related to Hopkinsville operations.
That’s according to media contact Thomas Frey, who in a weekend response to The News Edge noted the company made “a strategic decision” to reduce the size of the organization to “better align” with a new, “highly-focused business strategy.”
Frey said that, according to previous announcements, Ascend Elements no longer plans to manufacture the cathode active material, or CAM, as well as several other products. By focusing “only on battery recycling, lithium recovery and sustainable pCAM production,” Frey added that the company can “reduce headcount” across the organization and “accelerate a path to profitability.” It is this strategic realignment, he said, that will “unlock the value” of pCAM and lithium recovery technology.
Frey mention that the company “is sad to say goodbye” to colleagues, but that investors “fully support the move,” and that the Hopkinsville facility “remains on track” to begin producing recycled lithium carbonate for the first time in the nation’s history “later this month,” and sustainable nickel manganese cobalt pCAM in Hopkinsville by late Q4 2026.
He also said that the expected construction restart at the Apex 1 site in Christian County’s Commerce Park II is by the end of 2025.
Looking to assist local and regional employees with information, former Ascend Elements Communication, Engagement & Equity Manager DeeAnna Sova noted on social media early last week that she had been “proactive” by reaching out to community workforce partners like the Pennyrile Area Development District — who, she said, were “ready to assist,” answer questions and provide support to those who had lost these jobs at any time over the last nine months.
A “Rapid Response Meeting” was organized by the West Kentucky Workforce Board, and it was held at 9 AM Wednesday, June 25, at the Hopkinsville Career Center on Riverfront Drive.
While domestic concerns seemingly exist near south western Kentucky and other U.S. locations, international discussions about Ascend Elements have increased in recent months.
This past May, the company was offered a grant of up to €290 million Euro by Poland’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, in order to build a new plant for recycled cathode material.
The company has already identified a location in Poland but has not yet finalized the investment decision, but there are plans to build this new facility independently using its hydro-to-cathode technology to produce sustainable nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) precursor cathode active material (pCAM) from used lithium-ion batteries.
International executives have indicated that the project is part of Poland’s effort to strengthen its role in Europe’s battery supply chain and support EU net-zero goals, while Ascend said the move also insulates it from U.S. tariffs on imported virgin materials, as its recycling model uses domestic sources.
However, the company has faced funding challenges in the U.S., including the cancellation of a $164 million federal grant for its Kentucky plant.
This shift in funding priorities may be driving U.S. clean tech firms like Ascend to invest more heavily in Europe, where government support remains strong, and Ascend calls the Polish grant “one of the country’s largest ever awarded.”
