ELECTRIC BUS CHARGER PLANT HOSTS INFRASTRUCTURE TALKS.

• Position: NC TREND: Public affairs

Gov. Roy Cooper, U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross and other business and political leaders stopped by the Siemens manufacturing facility in Wendell for an infrastructure event in April. One of the products Siemens produces there is charging equipment for electric buses--obviously a huge growth industry as the transportation sector shifts away from diesel and gas. The plant has quietly added 100 jobs in the past year and expects "hundreds more" in the coming years, an executive told the crowd.

Siemens, a multinational company headquartered in Germany, has had the Wendell plant for decades, but it has scaled up its operations there and changed product lines in recent years.

Electric vehicle charging infrastructure will be a key piece of meeting Cooper's goals to get more zero-emissions vehicles on the road. GoTriangle CEO Charles Lattuca offered a prime example: Its fleet recently added two electric buses, but the buses can run the system's regional routes for only half a day before they have to return to their chargers.

Among the other highlights from the Accelerating America's Electric Future event, which was hosted by the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group United for Infrastructure:

* Federal money coming: Ross highlighted the billions of dollars coming from Washington through the recent infrastructure bill, and she said a challenge is...