Now with Ford Motor Co. set to build a plant in Haywood County by 2025, Bartlett High School’s CNC machinery may also help provide hands-on learning for students to prepare for jobs in the automotive industry.Related article: Road to $5.6 billion Ford plant bypasses state's automotive corridor
Two economic development veterans with experience in the state’s Middle Tennessee auto corridor talked on Behind The Headlines about the coming ‘gold rush’ of growth related to the Ford plant that they say will reach Memphis.
The public won’t be able to inspect the contracts until they’re finalized, prompting criticism among transparency advocates that the Megasite Authority will be able to spend millions of dollars with little oversight. Related story:
About 10 lawmakers voted against or abstained from voting on the Ford bills.
State lawmakers are set to begin a special legislative session Monday, Oct. 18.
The council is on record opposing TVA’s plan to truck coal ash from the old Allen Fossil Plant to a landfill in Capleville. The Tuesday council committee discussion also ventured into TVA’s role in the Blue Oval City Ford battery plant.
Economic leaders in east Shelby County expect to see the impacts of Ford in their communities.
Memphis area industry recruiters share stories of how West Tennessee landed “the big one.”
Gov. Bill Lee will call a special session of the General Assembly on Oct. 18, he announced in a tweet Thursday, Sept. 30. COVID-related legislation may also be on the table.
Arlington, Bartlett and Lakeland could emerge as the suburban municipalities that benefit most from Blue Oval City given its proximity to the Haywood County site. Arlington and Lakeland also seem prime for more growth in both housing and retail development before Ford’s announcement, this may only accelerate that process.
The Memphis Regional Megasite will have its own Tennessee College of Applied Technology campus.
“Blue Oval City will be the biggest auto manufacturing (site) in our 118-year history,” said Ford president and CEO Jim Farley. “It will also be the cleanest and most efficient. It will produce electric vehicles on a scale we couldn’t have even imagined 10 years ago.”
Ford will build three electric-battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee to make batteries for the next generation of Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles.
Ford Motor Company has selected the Memphis Regional Megasite for an electric vehicle and battery manufacturing campus, investing $5.6 billion and creating 5,800 jobs. Gov. Bill Lee said it was “the largest single investment in this state’s history.”