With a workforce of 59, Axion Power International is no industrial giant. But its resurrection - from a shuttered lead-acid battery plant to one now turning out lead-carbon batteries for use in electric cars, among other eco-friendly applications - is cited by Rendell and his representatives as evidence of the green economy's transformative powers.
 
Earlier this month, the Obama administration announced $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate the manufacture and deployment of the next generation of U.S. batteries and electric cars.
 
Of that stimulus money, $34.3 million is to go to Georgia-based battery giant Exide Technologies "with Axion Power . . . for the production of advanced lead-acid batteries, using lead-carbon electrodes for micro and mild hybrid applications," according to a White House statement. Axion said it was not sure what portion, if any, of that grant it would receive under a four-year supply agreement it entered into with Exide in April.