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Company officials didn't immediately say how many people they expect the Lancaster plant to employ, saying only that it could be "hundreds" in the years ahead. Its North American headquarters has about 40 people. For Lancaster, the announcement continues a partnership between the city and BYD that began in 2010 when Parris brought the Chinese company and Southern California homebuilder KB Homes together to build an all-solar-powered prototype house. Parris, a proponent of green energy programs, successfully pressed the City Council earlier this year to adopt an ordinance requiring that beginning in 2014 all new homes come with a solar energy system. The flamboyant mayor, better known nationally for opening Council meetings with a prayer, shutting down a hotel where a motorcycle gang was to meet and requiring pit bulls be castrated, is also a long-time advocate of developing local trade relations with China. In 2010 he visited BYD's Solar Village in Shenzen. That same year he also persuaded the City Council to hire a Hong Kong native as Lancaster's first China trade liaison.
[Associated
Press;
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