Optimism returns to Illinois city as electric truck startup Rivian gains traction
NORMAL, Ill. - When the Mitsubishi plant closed in July 2015 after years of dwindling production, the mood in downstate Normal was decidedly somber. The sprawling factory, once the city's largest employer, went dark, leaving 1,100 people out of work and many fearing it would end up as a massive hole in the ground.
More than a year passed without a buyer, and a liquidator was preparing to sell the factory for scrap.
"It was within a couple weeks of getting torn down," said Chris Koos, a local bicycle shop owner who has been mayor of Normal since 2003. "We were kind of dejected."
Then in 2016 came Rivian and its 30-something founder and CEO R.J. Scaringe, an engineer who had this crazy idea of buying and
