A123 is using its $249 million award to build battery factories in Livonia, Romulus and Brownstown, Michigan. The company, which received its award on December 3, 2009, has already reported the creation of 90 new jobs, and expects to hire over 3,000 people by 2012. A123 has partnerships with several well known carmakers, and the company's first large scale plant is a great story of American innovation. The company started as a spinoff from MIT's labs in 2001, with help from a $100,000 DOE Small Business Innovation Research grant. Since its inception, A123's small, five-person operation has grown to 1,600 employees worldwide. In 2009, A123 held a successful initial public offering and raised over $300 million.