Comstock's magazine 0520 - May 2020 | Page 86

CITY OF STOCKTON Motiv Power Systems employees discuss an Electric Powered Intelligent Chassis F-59 being built in its Stockton facility, which opened in February. PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTIV POWER SYSTEMS zero-emission forklifts to handle the cargo at its facility and replaced diesel- powered equipment with battery- powered, clean-energy vehicles. The port has air- and water-quality programs that require main engines to be shut off to lower carbon emissions and reduce the amount of pollutants in water runoff, respectively, as well as wildlife initiatives, like owl nest boxes (and live streaming of the nests). The Port of Stockton is the second port in California to get Green Marine certified. Motiv Power Systems Motiv Power Systems, a sustainable technology company based in San Francisco that makes electric chassis, opened a facility in Stockton in February. Motiv partners with Ford, modifying trucks and shuttle and school buses with software and electronics to make them electric vehicles. Matt O’Leary, Motiv chairman and CEO, says the Stockton facility serves as a predelivery 86 comstocksmag.com | May 2020 inspection and service center. “Stockton was important because of the hundred vehicles that we have deployed, almost half of those are in the Central Valley. We wanted to have a location that was central to our customers,” he says, and Motiv is providing job opportunities in the region. “We found contacts famil- iar with the technology we work with. We hired locals right out of Stockton,” O’Leary says. The company plans to play a role in assisting with clean transporta- tion as a solution to improve air quality in Stockton. The Sustainable Neighborhood Plan In 2018, Stockton received a $170,000 grant from the California Strategic Growth Council. With the award, the Transformative Climate Communities Planning Grant, the city created a sus- tainable development plan. The project, called The Sustainable Neighborhood Plan, conducted outreach with local