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. 

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.

Demand for the F-150 Lightning will be crucial to Ford’s planned operations in West Tennessee. 

Site work at Blue Oval City could begin as early as March 15, and local officials say Shelby County is poised to be an electric vehicle hub “if we dare to dream big enough.” 

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Ford, ready to grow workforce, begins to recruit eighth-graders

Ford will run EV business separately as Ford Blue

HTL’s Mark Herbison visits Fayette County to speak about Blue Oval City

As electric vehicle footprint director and project manager of Blue Oval City, Greg Christensen will be tasked with helping the iconic brand transition into the era of EV. 

Mark Herbison, who was instrumental in the work associated with the megasite, said they weren’t willing to accept just any project for the location.

“Overall budget is holding in spite of market conditions but we have a long way to go,” Megasite CEO Clay Bright said.

Industry leaders covered everything industrial, office and retail, and two of the region’s top economic development experts talked Ford and its unprecedented planned development. 

What’s the difference between “card check” and a secret-ballot vote? Perhaps the unionization of the mammoth Blue Oval City that Ford Motor Co. plans to build just east of Memphis.

The technology matters. The capacity matters. But more than anything else, auto manufacturers understand they will only be as good as the training and workers with hands-on new gas-powered and electric vehicles.