Community members gather in the pews of St. Matthews Baptist Church in Stanton, Tenn. at a community benefits demands meeting hosted Nov. 16 by BlueOval Good Neighbors and Tennessee for All. (Photo: Tennessee for All)
A coalition of community members from towns surrounding Ford’s new BlueOval City manufacturing campus in West Tennessee issued a list of demands for a legally binding community benefits agreement this month, inviting Ford to negotiate.
Their demands include company commitments to hire local workers at livable wages, create funds to support locals as rents and the cost of living rise, monitor the campus’ environmental impacts and give a newly created “BlueOval Good Neighbors Community Board” the power to oversee and enforce those provisions.
The list — which is based on community input collected by BlueOval Good Neighbors and advocacy group Tennessee for All from their own community outreach over the last two years — has not yet been acknowledged by Ford.
The company has run a separate 2-year outreach effort to gather input for a “Good Neighbor Plan” that has yet to be released. That effort is overseen by an Equitable Growth Advisory Council of 25 community leaders and elected officials selected by Ford.
The 6-square-mile campus will be constructed on about 3,300 acres of what was once farmland in the southwestern corner of Haywood County. The $5.6 billion campus will include manufacturing facilities for electric vehicles and batteries, a supplier park, a rail yard connection, and a wastewater treatment plant.
The massive venture — one of the largest battery and vehicle manufacturing campuses in the country — lies just 2.5 miles south of Stanton, a small town of less than 600 people. Mason, a majority Black town of just over 1,300 residents, is about 6 miles west of the facility.
“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,” spokesperson Jessica Enoch wrote in an email to Tennessee Lookout. “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.”
Community members, leaders and union representatives who gathered at a Nov. 16 meeting hosted by BlueOval Good Neighbors and Tennessee for All said they do want to have a voice in their future, backed by the legal reinforcement of a community benefits agreement.
They agree that development brings opportunities, but growing pains are already palpable. Meeting attendees described neighbors losing their rented homes when landlords sold property after Ford came to town. One woman described seeing trees cleared and smelling smoke as downed logs were burned. Some have seen rent and property tax increases as property values rise. Many have received offers to purchase their homes.
“You get these little things in the mail where folks want to buy your house, and they have enough nerve to offer me $35,000,” Mason Alderwoman Virginia Rivers said. “Where am I going to buy a house for (that). If I sell what I’ve got, I can’t even go buy something else.”
Attendees also voiced continued concerns over threats to water quality, not only from the campus, but from secondary developments that lead to water pollution and runoff.
Several people pointed to what the community has experienced since 2022: the state’s attempted takeover of the City of Mason’s charter, Fayette County government’s closure of a Mason community center and Black farmers receiving reportedly low offers for land to use for state road projects leading to the new campus.
Enoch stated the Equitable Growth Advisory Council will use community feedback to shape its plan, including research and surveys led by the University of Tennessee at Martin and input from four public meetings held in February, some of which Tennessee for All representatives attended.
“The council is just one way that Ford engages with residents. Ford and Ford Philanthropy spent more than 1,000 hours listening to community input and learning about local priorities, and we continue to welcome ideas from residents, who are encouraged to contact commrels@ford.com,” she wrote.
Rebekah Gorbea, statewide coordinator for Tennessee for All, said BlueOval Good Neighbors’ list of demands is a culmination of the coalition’s work. She said the group has attempted to meet with Ford to negotiate for two years.
“These demands are a product of years of community input on the harsh realities of Ford’s BlueOval City Project,” Gorbea stated in a news release. “These EV plants are cropping up all over the South and the Biden administration and Ford have the opportunity to show that these developments are for the people just as much as they are for profit. If Ford really wants to be a good neighbor, we are ready to negotiate.”
BlueOval Good Neighbors Key Demands Summary