Technological initiatives are required to put the U.S. economy back on track, Vice President Joseph Biden said on Monday in Michigan.

Biden, at a construction site in Midland, where Dow Kokam is building a factory to produce car batteries for electrically powered vehicles, said, "If we just restored the economy that existed in 1995, that is not enough to lead the world."

The Detroit News has reported that battery production at the site is expected to put 800 people to work, as well as provide 1,000 construction jobs to build the factory.

The factory, which is being built with $161 million in assistance from the $800 billion 2009 economic stimulus bill, was " a gigantic start" to investment in the future of U.S. manufacturing, Biden has said.

Biden further said that in addition to jobs, the project helps the United States break away from foreign energy supplies that "(tie) us to the jungles of Venezuela and the sands of Saudi Arabia." (With Inputs from Agencies)