LiV ramps up production

LiV Golf Cars is preparing to make an impact on Libby’s economy.

Facility Manager Phillip Erquiaga confirmed Monday that the company has a signed deal in place to deliver 76 golf cars to a course in California in February 2015. That contract, he said, is just the tip of the iceberg.

LiV opened their facility in Libby with financial assistance from the Lincoln County Port Authority and the Big Sky Trust Fund. Under that agreement, LiV has promised to have 22 employees on the payroll by September of next year.

Should the company fail to make that goal, it could be required to repay parts of the grant and loan packages ahead of schedule. Sources both at Lincoln County and within the Montana Department of Commerce indicated that such penalties would occur only if they felt a “good faith” effort to meet the terms of the agreement was not made.

With the new contract and, based upon projections for the summer, Erquiaga expects LiV to make that goal. “It’s sure looking that way right now,” he said. He said that a similar contract, for another 80 cars, is expected in March but “that deal isn’t signed and we haven’t received an earnest money deposit yet.”

Equiaga is confident that his projections are good, but also cautious. “I don’t want to over-hire early to cover demand and then have to lay people off,” he said. “I’d rather have people work a bit of overtime until we’re sure the contracts are here to cover long-term work.”

As of right now LiV has two employees on the payroll, in addition to Erquiaga, and expects to have a third just after the beginning of the year. LiV assembles the cars at the Libby facility from shipped-in components, but Erquiaga hopes to bring as much of that work as possible in-house. With his current staff and all of the components on-hand, Erquiaga said the plant produce five cars a day.

LiV opened their facility in Libby in 2013, with start-up assistance from the Lincoln County Port Authority, Kootenai River Development Corporation and the Big Sky Trust Fund. Those agencies cooperate to bring new business to rural areas and help stimulate economic growth.

“The Lincoln County Port Authority and Big Sky Trust Fund has done a lot to help get this off the ground,” Erquiaga said.

LiV is not only marketing their golf cars to courses around the country, but also working to develop conversion kits that will enable courses using older technology to swap out their less-efficient technology for LiV’s lithium-iron battery systems.

LiV’s growth marks a significant achievement for the Port Authority and could represent a substantial new employer for the economically-depressed area.