State lawmakers approved an $884 million incentive package to bring Ford Motor Co. to West Tennessee on Wednesday with votes wrapping up a special session in Nashville.
The incentive package will bring a $5.6 billion investment to Haywood County. The 4,100-acre site — now called the Memphis Regional Megasite — will be renamed Blue Oval City, a nod to Ford’s iconic logo. On 3,600-acres of the massive site, Ford will build its electric F-150 trucks and SK Innovation will build batteries and other electronic components.
The factories will bring 5,800 jobs to West Tennessee, the largest job announcement in Tennessee history. Tennessee officials competed with those in 15 other states for the project. State Sen. Ed Jackson (R-Jackson) was told Ford said Tennessee’s site and incentive package was “heads and shoulders above the rest.”
“This is the most important and life-changing bill,” Jackson told senators during a Wednesday floor speech. “It will be generational and positive change for. … all of West Tennessee.”
More than $383 million of the incentive package will be used by the state to build roads, infrastructure, and even a trade school on the site. The rest — $500 million — will be given to Ford as a grant.
However, Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson) explained that “we’re not writing a $500 million check and giving it to them.” As Ford spends money to build its facility, the state will reimburse them for the costs, up to $500 million. The agreement includes clawbacks, too. So, if Ford does create the amount of jobs it promises, they’ll lose some of the money given to them. All of it, Watson said, was a way to ensure Ford completes its commitments to the state.
All of the money will come from state surplus funds. Jackson explained the state now has about $2 billion in surplus finding and, thus, “has the money to finance this.” With that, he reminded anyone watching that no taxes will be raised to fund the project. Instead, he said, the project will generate far more in taxes than it will cost the state up front.
Lawmakers predict the project will add $22.4 million directly to state coffers each year. It is expected to grow the gross state product by $3.5 billion each year. In the two-to-three-year construction phase of building Blue Oval City, it is expected to yield $178 million in state taxes.
Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville) said he found a recurring theme as he scrolled through the state economic development website. Wilson, Cumberland, Williamson, Davidson, Hamilton, Murray, Knox, and Sumner Counties were “coming up time and again” for new projects or expansions.
“West Tennessee, it’s your time,” Bell said.
No gathering of lawmakers in Nashville would be complete, however, without off-the-wall comments that border on bad taste. As senators gave congratulations after the vote, Sen. Frank Nicely (R-Strawberry Plains) rose to say once his grandson asked him if the South really lost what Nicely called the “the war between the states.” Nicely told his grandson, “it’s too early to tell,” he said.
“When I compare their Northern cities with our Southern cities, and their debt loads to our debt -free states and all these great companies like Ford and Smith & Wesson coming down South, I think I can tell my grandson the war between the states is going on and we’re winning.”
The incentive package got three “no” votes in the Senate and four in the House.
A House GOP bill on Covid precautions did not move past the committee stage, as no Senator sponsored the legislation in the upper house. Lawmakers will gather again next week in another special session to focus on Covid issues.
