5 states still competing for Tesla gigafactory; Nevada hopes groundwork near Reno is good sign

A sprawling industrial park near Reno has become the focus of Tesla's unusually secretive site selection process for its $5 billion battery factory, but the groundwork there is no guarantee that the plant and its 6,500 jobs are coming.

Lance Gilman knows the bidding war with Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona has just begun now that the electric-car maker has confirmed the first stage of preparation for a "gigafactory."

Gilman is the director of the Reno Tahoe Industrial Center, where the groundwork is taking place.

Tesla chairman and CEO Elon Musk says the company wants to do similar site work in one or two other states before the company starts pouring concrete.

But Gilman likes Nevada's chances of landing the plant. He says no one else "has even left the starting gate" but the site near Reno is "ready to go tomorrow."