Apr. 25—Plug Power Inc., a firm that supplies hydrogen fuel to companies like Amazon, Walmart and Home Depot, recently announced it will soon lay off dozens of employees. But the New York-based company's Inland Northwest presence will remain.

The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration requires companies with more than 100 workers to announce layoffs and closures 60 days in advance.

On April 11, the department announced that a Plug Power closure would affect 107 workers, beginning June 30.

But Scott Spink, vice president of engineering, said the announcement does not tell the full story.

"Our manufacturing facilities in Spokane and the material that is being manufactured is being moved to New York state," Spink said.

Two large factories have recently been built in Rochester and Albany, he said.

"They were both purposefully built," he said. "They have space to move these manufacturing lines and we're transitioning the lines there."

Spink said the final product is a hydrogen fuel cell, which uses the chemical energy of hydrogen to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity. Those cells will now be assembled in New York.

So, only manufacturing workers will be affected by the layoffs. And if they wish to move to New York, then they will have a job waiting for them, according to Spink.

The other Spokane Valley workers will continue their employment at the company's West Coast office at 15913 E. Euclid Ave.

"Our development center in Spokane is staying open and 48 research and development and engineering jobs will stay at the facility," he said.

At the 24,000-square-foot facility in the Spokane Business and Industrial Park, workers will help test new products and ensure the quality of current ones, Spink said.

"Here, we have research labs where we do ... all sorts of studies of alternative materials," he said. "We have engineering development people that design components and we still build all the prototypes here."

Workers based in Spokane Valley will also continue to refill customers' hydrogen storage facilities and to ensure fuel cells in vehicles, like forklifts, are operating correctly.

"At the Amazon facility that's east of our office, you will see a hydrogen tank that they use every day to fuel their material handling equipment that they can drive inside their building because they admit no exhaust," he said. "So we travel to the field all the time to make sure the customer understands how the product works and to refill tanks."

During their early years, hydrogen-fuel manufacturing companies often struggled to stay afloat. It resulted in many mergers and acquisitions.

For instance, Plug Power used to be part of Avista Labs before that fuel cell company changed its name to ReliOn. In 2014, Plug Power paid $4 million to purchase ReliOn Inc., according to previous reporting by The Spokesman-Review.

Last month, Plug Power reported its financial results for 2023.

"There is no longer substantial doubt of the Company's ability to continue," a company release said.

The firm reported revenue of $891 million for 2023, which is a company record and reflects a 27% growth over the prior year, according to the release.

Last year, it opened a hydrogen plant in Woodbine, Georgia, which is the largest of its kind in the nation. It is the company's first large-scale facility and greatly increased its production capabilities, the release said.

The company's key customers are Tyson, Sam's Club, Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon, according to its website.