Part of the “Project DeLorean” construction site in Millersburg, as seen on April 3.
Driving back to Albany from Millersburg the other day, I could not help but notice, to my right, the operation to clear a vast area of land west of Old Salem Road. When I inquired, I learned the site is being prepared for the construction of a Ball Corporation factory to make aluminum cans.
At Millersburg City Hall, I heard about the Ball company and I could learn more about this venture by looking up “Project DeLorean” on the list of projects Millersburg helpfully publishes on its city website.
What I learned there was that the Millersburg Planning Commission approved the site plan for the factory and grounds in February 2024. The minutes of the public hearing on the issue quoted the representative proposing the plan to the effect that the company wanted to remain anonymous for competitive reasons.
Nowhere at the hearing, or in the staff report pertaining to this request, was there any mention of the name of the company building the factory or the product it plans to make.
But according to the minutes, the planning commission was told that the factory would provide 110-130 skilled jobs with “the potential for more.” Production workers would earn wages of around $70,000-$80,000 a year.
The factory would be housed in one big building of about 500,000 square feet, some 326,000 square feet of which would be for manufacturing and 156,000 square feet would be warehouse space.
In November 2024, the Linn County Board of Commissioners approved, under the enterprise zone program, a 10-year property tax exemption for the factory once it is built.
The county’s press release on the action maintained the official secrecy, saying that the tax break would be for “Project DeLorean.”
The county added: “The Fortune 500 company, which produces aluminum packaging, has purchased 47 acres and plans to invest $257 million and create 108 new jobs.”
The land had been owned by the City of Millersburg and had been zoned for industry since the city existed.
You can look up Ball Corporation online. You will learn that it’s an American-owned aluminum manufacturing company with plants all over the world, headqartered in Westminster, Colo. Last year it had revenue of more than $11 billion and net income of about $4 billion.
The factory site is across the street from Millersburg’s new Fire Station 15, staffed by the Albany Fire Department under contract with the town.
“All manufacturing processes are located inside building structures, minimizing outside disturbance,” the city website says. “Their architectural designs are carefully crafted to complement and enhance the areas in which they operate.”
Linn County says building permits are ready to be issued. Construction of the building is expected to start this fall, and manufacturing operations are to start in 2026, according to the city.
What the website doesn’t explain is who came up with “Project DeLorean,” and why that particular code name. (hh)
Millersburg City Manager Janelle Booth explained Wednesday that the code name was assigned by state business development officials when they started looking for an Oregon site for the Ball company several years ago and the company insisted on confidentiality. As for those tanks you see in the top photo, she said they “are not a part of the actual facility. They are temporary during construction, to support cement soil stabilization work and possibly future concrete mixing; they will not remain once the facility is completed.”
This was the the view of the DeLorean site across the street from Fire Station 15 in Millersburg.
Delorean was a failed car that got it’s fame for being used as a prop in Back to the Future movie. It had an all-aluminum engine. My wild guess is building specific parts for the car industry, not that aluminum does not have good qualities for heavy cars (like the Cybertrucks where the all aluminum chassis breaks after longer stress).
Hope it gets built and operates. That’s a lot of solid production jobs coming to the mid valley.
yah right. Automation will not allow those jobs. LOL!!!
Have your fancy dreams but NO.
This is good and welcome news for Albany too. Positive businesses are a boon to the whole area. Nicely done Millersburg!
After seeing the roaring success of the Intermodal Transportation Container Handling project at the rail yards in Millersburg area, one might have reason to be concerned. The state, Linn County and others put a large pot of dough into that project and that project has yet to load or unload a single container onto a train, onto a truck, or on to anything for that matter. Now, the County is giving a 10-year property tax break as stimulus to Ball Corp. Nothing against aluminum cans, but when the Linn County Masters start doling-out benefits to private sector interests, somehow the end result is never quite what was promised.
Totally agree
A much needed business for a job-hungry area.
That is just one of many things that are going on and in the works for Millersburg. If you want to check all of them out go to the “City of Millersburg” website and see what is happening out here. A few things in the future but hopefully will come to fruition such as a school and a YMCA.
Could this “secret” be because of any public comment/backlash the company would receive due to environmental concerns?… Yes, aluminum products can potentially damage groundwater. While natural sources of aluminum in soil and rock contribute to groundwater contamination, human activities like industrial processes, waste disposal, and even the use of aluminum in water treatment can release the metal into the environment, potentially harming aquatic life and human health. Also there is this…. https://aluminium-stewardship.org/water-risk-and-stewardship-approaches-for-the-aluminium-industry