Rivian announced Monday a $120 million investment for the construction of a supplier park near its Normal, Illinois plant. 

A press release says the company expects key suppliers to locate in the 1.2 million-square-foot park. This will provide the company with a better material supply process for those parts, it says. 

“We are excited to see this supplier park coming together so quickly,” said Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, in the release. “This will be a key enabler to increasing production at the plant in 2026 when we start to build R2 in addition to R1 and our commercial vans.”

A subset of Rivian’s suppliers are expected to perform light assembly and manufacturing on site at the supplier park, the release says. Rivian employees at the supplier park will kit and sequence the parts, which will then be moved to the main plant. 

An underground tunnel, constructed by Rivian, between the supplier park and the main plant will provide efficient operations while avoiding increased traffic on local roads, the release said.

The plant is expected to bring additional jobs to the area, including nearly 100 direct Rivian jobs. 

Illinois is supporting the project with an incentive package to offset project start-up costs and certain infrastructure improvements, according to the release. This includes tax credits tied to the creation of jobs. 

“In Illinois, we aren’t just making electric vehicles: we are creating an entire ecosystem – attracting investments, bolstering our workforce, and strengthening the EV manufacturing supply chain,” said Gov. JB Pritzker in the release. “Rivian’s investment will attract suppliers from across the globe to invest in Illinois and continue to create good-paying jobs, providing Illinois with the competitive edge to thrive in the clean energy economy.”

The town of Normal is also making road improvements and helping offset the cost of running utility infrastructure to the new supplier park site with future tax reimbursements. 

Construction is underway for a 1.1 million-square-foot expansion of the plant necessary for R2 manufacturing, the release says. It adds that R2 production is expected to begin in 2026.

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Feature and embedded photo of site for Rivian supplier park courtesy of Rivian