Ford EV Plant Community Coalition Issues Demands To Automaker

The under-construction Ford EV plant known as BlueOval City in Tennessee has long been envisioned as a community-boosting project, one that will bring in thousands of jobs and new development to an area that sorely needs that kind of economic infusion. However, as Ford Authority recently reported, a group of residents in rural West Tennessee have formed the BlueOval Good Neighbors Coalition, which wants FoMoCo to sign a legally binding community benefits agreement as it aims to ensure that the future Ford EV plant hires locals and also prevents gentrification from occurring. Now, that same coalition has issued a list of demands to the automaker.

According to Tennessee Outlook, the coalition is asking the automaker to provide workers at the future Ford EV plant with livable wages, create funds to assist residents with rising costs of living, monitor the site’s environmental impact, and provide the BlueOval Good Neighbors Community Board with the power to enforce these provisions. As Ford Authority previously reported, residents in the area surrounding BlueOval City are concerned that the massive growth occurring around that site will drive up the costs of housing, rent, and repairs, all while many local land owners have been asked or even told that they must sell their land. In fact, some of those land owners have been offered far less than what other similar parcels have sold for.

“We want residents in every community neighboring BlueOval City to benefit as the campus comes to life and we look forward to introducing the Good Neighbor Plan soon,” said Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch. “Ford has been contacted by many groups that say they speak on behalf of residents, many of which are not even from the area. It would not be feasible for us to engage with every third-party group that purports to speak on behalf of residents. In fact, what we hear most from residents is that they want to speak for themselves.”

The addition of BlueOval City to Stanton is already having a massive impact on the surrounding area, with a number of suppliers, contractors, and others moving into the area and building homes, apartments, restaurants, and stores. However, even though the Ford EV plant will begin building batteries next year, production of the next-generation all-electric Ford F-150 was recently pushed back to 2027. As for its neighboring site – the nearby BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky – it’s slated to begin building EV batteries early next year, but will seemingly do so with union labor after a supermajority recently signed authorization cards and subsequently launched their campaign to join the United Auto Workers (UAW).