TOP PHOTO: The House and Senate chambers concluded a historic extraordinary session of the Tennessee General Assembly. 

NASHVILLE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF) – The House and Senate chambers on Wednesday concluded a historic session of the Tennessee General Assembly that paves the way for the single largest economic development investment in state history.  Ford Motor Company and SK Innovations announced plans in September to invest $5.6 billion to build a 3,600-acre campus that will be called Blue Oval City at the Memphis Regional Megasite in Haywood County.  Blue Oval City will be designed to be the largest, most advanced and most efficient automobile production facility in Ford Motor Company’s history. “We have companies in our area already supplying auto manufacturers in the state and this will create the possibilities of ancillary industries locating in our area,” said State Rep. Dennis Powers.

“This will not only benefit West Tennessee, but all of Tennesseans by keeping taxes low and creating more jobs all over the state,” said Powers.  The project will create nearly 6,000 new jobs in West Tennessee, while another 27,000 jobs are predicted to impact the region both directly and indirectly to support the sites outside their operations.  The overall investment will have a generational impact on the entire state, solidifying Tennessee’s standing as a global automotive powerhouse.

“The investment will pay for itself in eight to 15 years and after that we project a minimum of $40M of annual tax revenue,” said Powers.  Tennessee will lead the nation’s transition to electric automobiles with four major automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM), 920 automotive suppliers in 88 counties that employ 140,000 Tennesseans.

The Volunteer State is already No. 1 in the Southeast for electric vehicle manufacturing with approximately 15,000 electric vehicles produced in our state each year. The Blue Oval City Megasite will introduce more environmentally-friendly, sustainable and carbon-neutral manufacturing.

In partnership with Blue Oval City, the Tennessee General Assembly has committed $40 million to build a Tennessee College of Applied Science onsite that will provide customized training developed in conjunction with Ford and SK Innovation. Training will focus on electric vehicle manufacturing with a curriculum concentrating on mechatronics engineering and auto mechanics. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 10/22/2021-6AM)