So how big of a deal is it that Lathrop has landed one of the hottest – and arguably forward-thinking – companies in America?

Apparently pretty big. 

While Lathrop City Manager Steve Salvatore’s plate is already usually pretty full the day after a Lathrop City Council meeting, he also had to deal with a crush of news outlets from all over the country calling him up to find out exactly how this little valley town that’s situated among three freeways managed to land a Tesla Motors manufacturing facility (the actual intended use of the space hasn’t been announced by the Palo Alto-based company but the permits that were issued were for manufacturing). 

Within 18 hours of the story being posted online and in print the national media caught on. The Los Angeles Times called. Bloomberg Businessweek had a posting. The San Francisco Chronicle had something up on its tech blog. The Tesla Motors Club had dissected nearly every aspect they could find on the space that Tesla will occupy and the types of jobs that are currently being advertised – even going so far as to speculate on what might actually be manufactured there.

It might have made Salvatore’s day a little bit longer, but it was also a victory lap for city staffers that worked hard to get the project to its current point. 

Currently Tesla Motors has 24 Lathrop-specific jobs posted on its website – the majority being computer numerical control technician positions. Several robotics and control positions are also available, as are three mechanical engineering slots and an IT position. 

For more information about Tesla jobs at the Lathrop plant visit www.teslamotors.com/careers and search for Lathrop.