BlueOval’s tech side under control but workforce, traffic and supply chain issues remain
There are a number of challenges that accompany BlueOval City, the production site by Ford Motor Co. about an hour’s drive from Memphis.
There are a number of challenges that accompany BlueOval City, the production site by Ford Motor Co. about an hour’s drive from Memphis.
In a letter to employees sent Monday, Aug. 22, Ford said about 2,000 full-time salaried positions would be eliminated, as well as 1,000 contract workers.Related story:
About 3,000 white-collar workers at Ford Motor Co. will lose their jobs as the company cuts costs to help make the long transition from internal combustion vehicles to those powered by batteries.
Ford has been working with the state, local institutions and community organizations to help create a pipeline of workers for the thousands of jobs that will be needed by 2025.
More than 70 years after founding its charitable arm, Ford Motor Co. has invested more than $2.2 billion in initiatives that provide basic needs and access to essential services, offer tools to build new skillsets and open pathways to employment.
Incoming Greater Memphis Chamber president and CEO Ted Townsend spoke Wednesday, Aug. 10, at the Collierville Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon.
Interior construction isn’t expected to begin until April 2023, with peak construction in the months that follow.
Staff at The Daily Memphian recently test-drove the F-150 Lightning, Ford’s first-ever all-electric — and surprisingly quiet — pickup truck.
The venture between Ford and SK Battery America Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK On, will build and operate the battery plant at BlueOval City at the Megasite of West Tennessee as well as two battery plants in Kentucky.
Lakeland’s Economic Development Commission gets an overview of expected impact of the Haywood County project that is generating 32,900 construction jobs to build the megasite, and about 6,000 net new jobs for the site’s assembly facility, battery plant and recycling facility.
Hundreds of Tennessee residents attended a meeting with Ford Motor Co. execs Tuesday night at a Brownsville high school to learn more about BlueOval City.
Most of the hires (57%) have come from West Tennessee, including Haywood, Tipton, Madison and Fayette counties. But officials say Shelby County residents will play a big role in the construction project.
Heath McMillian will take over as executive vice president for the college’s Blue Oval City campus.
This year’s show is the first since the start of the pandemic and the first since Ford announced its $5.6 billion manufacturing campus in West Tennessee.
Ford, UT reveal agreement to restore stream waters flowing through Lone Oaks Farm, located about 70 miles from Memphis.
Ford Motor Co. plans to bring a 10,000-square-foot display that will include updates on its project at the Megasite of West Tennessee, future Blue Oval City, as well an outdoor EV track.
While Memphis-based Fogelman Properties doesn’t have real estate interest in Haywood County, president Mark Fogelman said his experience in regions like Chattanooga following Volkswagen’s investment could be used to gauge what could happen in West Tennessee.
The bill would require the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee to submit a report detailing the name and location of each business or third-party entity contracted to perform construction work at the site.
Ford plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and its operations in West Tennessee are at the frontier of that goal, according to its latest sustainability report.
The Detroit construction company had its first supplier outreach meeting in January in Memphis, followed by a similar meeting in March in Jackson, Tennessee, about 45 miles east of the Megasite.
General Services has two State Building Commission-approved capital projects, including the 36.5 miles of pipeline that will run from the northwest corner of the Megasite — where the wastewater treatment plant will be located — to the Mississippi River.
“I would suspect that most of the companies that entered into the Russian market either had a contingency plan,” the Bartlett Chamber president said.
Ford now needs to secure an environmental permit before moving forward with site work at its planned $5.6 billion electric vehicle plant in West Tennessee.
“This couldn’t be a more transformative project,” says Aaron Stewart. “The suppliers are already looking. ...”
“We’re looking for technical, we’re looking for operational, we’re looking for lean and professional behaviors when we think about that ideal worker of the future,” said Liliana Ramirez, Ford’s workforce development director.