General Motors’ recent announcement of massive layoffs at Ultium Cells in Lordstown hit the Mahoning Valley like a ton of bricks.

For some, it rekindled a sense of perverse deja vu, harkening back to the series of GM layoffs that began about 10 years ago and ended in 2019 with the moth-balling of the once-sprawling 13,000-employee vehicle assembly plant in the village.

That’s understandable. The announcement two weeks ago that GM will permanently lay off 440 hourly workers and temporarily release an additional 850 workers at its local Ultium Cells plant beginning Jan. 5 stands as the largest set of job losses from one company in the Mahoning Valley in several years.

But, unlike the chain reaction of job shrinkage at the Lordstown assembly plant that began a decade ago, this time around, all is not necessarily doom and gloom for the road ahead.

While we are disheartened over this jolt to our ever-evolving Voltage Valley and saddened over its impact on affected workers, plenty of room for optimism exists toward a viable rebound.

But that rebound will not come easily or quickly enough for many. Such a recovery also will require cooperation and commitments from all stakeholders in the future viability of GM in particular and electric-vehicle commerce in general for our region.

As most know by now, the downsizing and temporary closing of Ultium stems from a massive decline in EV sales after this summer’s Big Beautiful Bill scrubbed $7,500 tax credits on new EV purchases and weakened mandated fuel-economy levels. With the loss of those incentives, EV sales have plummeted 74% from their 2025 peak, according to data from analytics platform Cloud Theory.

To reverse that trajectory, the automaker and its workforce, represented by Local 1112 of the United Auto Workers, face a daunting challenge. They must prove they can make their product line succeed without artificial stimuli via federal tax credits and other public-sector incentives.

Given the current political climate in Washington, hopes for any resurrection of such generous government-funded incentives appear slim to none. That’s why any upturn in electric vehicle production and the batteries that charge them must originate with the company itself and its able workforce.

So far, the signs of such progress are encouraging.

GM CEO Mary Barra has vowed to do everything possible to reverse the current EV sales slide. “We will continue to invest in new battery chemistries, form factors and architectural improvements to drive profitability,” she said in a letter to shareholders.

Part of that investment will feature major upgrades to Ultium’s plants here and in Tennessee during the down time early next year so that when the plants reopen next spring or summer, they will be primed to produce more efficient and less costly product lines.

As for batteries, GM plans to dump the Ultium Cells one-size-fits-all brand and replace it with a series of batteries tailor-made for specific vehicles. New state-of-the-art batteries, such as the lithium manganese-rich battery cells under development in Warren, Michigan, are designed to give EV drivers a faster charge and longer-distance range.

As for the company’s unionized workforce, cooperation — not contentiousness — must be the watchword to achieve mutually desired goals. That means all traces of antagonistic relationships between the union and the company must be placed in the rearview mirror.

At this early stage, signs of such cooperation look promising.

UAW Local 1112 President George Goranitis said the union is actively discussing with the company opportunities to attract new product lines to the sprawling 2.8 million-square-foot production facility in the Valley.

In addition to the company and its employees, others will have roles to play to accelerate any EV resurgence.

The state of Ohio and private companies should prioritize fast-tracking plans to blanket the state with conveniently located charging stations. After all, the fear of batteries conking out mid-trip fuel many would-be EV buyers’ apprehension of making the leap to clean-energy cars, trucks and SUVs.

Dealers could also play a role in jumpstarting EV sales by taking a page from the playbook of those that are offering discounts and rebates on EV purchases and leases to make them comparable or less than the cost of the gas-guzzling varieties.

Broader communitywide investment in the recovery of the EV market also could contribute to success. The Drive It Home campaign, a coalition of business, labor and elected leaders who came together to urge General Motors to reinvest in the GM Lordstown Cruze plant and later succeeded in landing Foxconn at the site, could be reactivated to advocate for continued investment here and to assist the company and its workforce toward that end.

Clearly the road ahead will be paved with struggles and potential setbacks. But if all work together toward the common goal, then the Voltage Valley moniker the Mahoning Valley has earned over the past five years will remain fully charged for the long haul.