HOLYOKE — Sublime Systems announced that it will be pausing its cement plant project in Holyoke and cutting its workforce after the Trump administration rescinded an $87 million award from the Department of Energy for the project.
The investment intended to accelerate the development of commercial-scale, true-zero cement manufacturing technology at Sublime’s first commercial manufacturing plant in Holyoke, while also expanding economic opportunity in the community.
The funds also looked to create and maintain high-quality jobs and eliminate harmful emissions that jeopardize public health.
In January 2024, Sublime Systems announced it had secured the site for its first commercial manufacturing facility in Holyoke after an extensive diligence period. The company signed an agreement for 16 acres in the city’s Flats neighborhood on Water Street, a property that formerly housed paper mills and is powered by Holyoke’s hydroelectric resources, critical infrastructure for Sublime’s fully electrified cement manufacturing process.
After the funds were cut, Sublime decided to reduce its workforce by 10% and pause work on the demonstration project planned in Holyoke. The cancellation of the federal OCED award, which was slated to fund 50% of the Holyoke plant, created challenges in assembling the capital stack and forced Sublime Systems to consider alternative approaches to its demonstration project.
Without this money, the possibility of the project resuming appears slim.
In a statement sent to Reminder Publishing, a spokesperson from Sublime Systems said, “We are actively working through a robust set of alternative scale-up plans and have several exciting options to bring our first commercial plant online. We also remain in ongoing dialogues with the Department of Energy to demonstrate how scaling our efficient, next-generation cement technology will onshore manufacturing of a critical building material, reducing our reliance on imports and increasing quality jobs for Americans.”
It has been an immense honor to work alongside our talented team members, the Holyoke community and local policymakers as we developed our demonstration project in a city with a rich industrial legacy, and we recognize the pain and challenges that this shift of direction will cause,” the statement continued. “We are grateful to our cement and construction partners, our investors and customers.”
Many local and elected officials weighed in on the decision, including Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, who expressed his disappointment.
“There was a coordinated effort between state, local government, federal government, partnerships to land this opportunity, not only in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, but here in the city of Holyoke,” Garcia said. “The folks at Sublime, we have common interests and that’s climate resiliency, and a lot of the competing reasons that they decided to come here were just a really good story to tell, but it just wasn’t s story aligned with this current administration … there’s no other way to put it … we got Trumped.”
Holyoke’s Planning and Economic Development Director Aaron Vega also derided the federal government for its decision to rescind the funds.
“Once again the federal government is not our partner in economic development, especially in the future of clean energy and carbon reduction efforts,” he said.
Like Garcia, Vega also believes the manufacturing technology will eventually be adopted, perhaps at some point in coordination with a current cement-making company, but he said he doesn’t see a plant being built in Holyoke, or in the commonwealth, in the immediate future.
When the Sublime project was first announced, Vega mentioned it could be the beginning of what the city wants to accomplish in growing its green industries. However, the absence of such a project will have a negative impact on the city and region’s green industry efforts, according to Vega.
“Without question this has a negative impact for the city’s green industries efforts, but it does not derail us from our focus,” Vega said, “There are other companies and startups in Holyoke and the Greater Holyoke region that continue to be focused on a clean, green, sustainable industrial future. We are thankful to the team at Sublime for believing in and working with Holyoke. We all learned a lot and are better for the experience.”
U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey also issued a statement on Sublime Systems’ announcement that it would pause construction of its low-carbon cement plants in Holyoke. Markey has been leading on efforts to fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to attack American manufacturing, energy, competitiveness and workers.
“Donald Trump is continuing his crusade against American manufacturing, American workers and American competitiveness on the world stage,” Markey stated, “Trump is killing the investments that keep our economy dominant around the world, sacrificing innovation and workers’ paychecks to his America Last agenda.”
