The Ford Motor Co. will restore the Stanton School, a four-room school building that served Haywood County’s Black residents until 1969, and repurpose it into a community center. (Photo: tn.gov)
Ford Motor Company released details of its promised $9 million investment in West Tennessee communities surrounding its new BlueOval City electric vehicle manufacturing campus in Stanton Thursday.
Plans include restoring a historic African American schoolhouse in Stanton into a new Ford Community Center that will act as a hub for community services for about 40,500 residents living within a 15-mile radius of the BlueOval City campus. Just under 17% of those residents live below the poverty line, and more than half struggle to afford basic needs on their income, according to Ford.
Ford also plans to financially support other community spaces, invest in youth programs and literacy initiatives and continue efforts to support a local workforce pipeline for the plant. Ford funding will contribute to a financial assistance fund and initiatives providing greater access to legal aid, healthcare, fresh food, financial literacy and small business support. The plan also details Ford’s environmental commitments, including groundwater monitoring wells intended to protect the Memphis Sands Aquifer, which provides clean drinking water to Memphis and surrounding areas.
The company said it shaped its commitments through more than 2,500 hours of community engagement since the automaker announced the location of the BlueOval City plant in 2021. Research from the University of Tennessee at Martin, resident surveys and input from Ford’s hand-selected Equitable Growth Advisory Council determined the plan’s priorities. The company stated it will continue to survey residents and offer listening sessions and provide annual progress reports.
Funding for the plan comes after an initial $1.2 million in support from Ford Philanthropy for various West Tennessee programs.
A coalition of community members that has called on Ford to enter into a legally binding community benefits agreement issued a statement Thursday pushing for accountability measures for Ford’s commitments and a “meaningful seat at the table” for residents.
Community coalition says Ford’s commitments lack accountability measures
The BlueOval Good Neighbors coalition, supported by advocacy group Tennessee for All, conducted their own community outreach over the last two years, and stated Ford’s plan “will not stop BlueOval City from reinforcing a racial and economic divide in West Tennessee.”
The group has criticized the makeup of Ford’s Equitable Growth Advisory Council, citing, in part, Fayette County Mayor Skip Taylor’s inclusion on the council. Taylor was the sitting mayor during a 2021 redistricting process that a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit now claims violated the Voting Rights Act by stripping Black voters of equal opportunity.
The coalition highlights the impact of the rising cost of living and other strains that come with rapid growth on the region’s majority Black communities. While Ford’s plan does include some items demanded by BlueOval Good Neighbors like rent assistance and well monitoring, it does not include the creation of a board of neighbors with oversight authority, something the group says is key to accountability.
Community coalition issues demands for BlueOval City benefits, calls on Ford to negotiate
The group also called on Ford to include other commitments in a legally binding agreement, including local hiring commitments, public land ownership investments, repair for harm to Black farmers, affordable housing access and investments in Black-led organizations.
Ford pledges new community center and other investments in public spaces
The Stanton School, an African American schoolhouse that served hundreds of students from its reconstruction in 1948 through 1969, will be restored and repurposed into a community center through two state grants in partnership with Ford.
The state’s Connected Community Facility Grant program uses American Rescue Plan Act funding to create community spaces with digital access. The program offers up to $2 million, covering 90% of project expenses with a 10% match from the grantee. The cost of the Stanton School building rehabilitation and how much will be covered by Ford versus state grants is not immediately clear. Tennessee’s Historic Development Grant, which preserves structures listed in the National Register of Historic Places (the Stanton School was added in 2020), will also fund the historic renovation.
The Ford Community Center is expected to open in 2025, and community services that will ultimately be housed there will be offered through local non-profit partnerships in the meantime, according to Ford.
The company also committed to provide financial support to new and existing community centers, new or upgraded playgrounds, new farmers market pavilions and other outdoor community amenities. The plan does not yet list specific recipients or cost details.
Talent pipeline and other community support
Ford’s commitments to growing a local employee base include $2,500 cost-of-attendance scholarships for students studying advanced automotive manufacturing at technical colleges within 60 miles of BlueOval City, with priority for students enrolled in Haywood, Tipton and Fayette counties.
Support will include mentorship programs, designing and resourcing STEM education programs for local schools from elementary through university levels and computer access and literacy resources. A Ford Tennessee Discovery Center in Brownsville will open “closer to the start of local hourly hiring” for the campus, providing opportunities to meet with Ford representatives to discuss how to apply for job opportunities at the plant.
The company also pledged to work with partnering organizations to reduce employment barriers, including:
- Working with the YMCA to build a childcare facility within half a mile from the plant and expand child care throughout rural West Tennessee
- Working with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the University of Memphis and the City of Memphis to provide transportation (most likely via buses and vans) for BlueOval City employees living in neighboring towns
- Supporting high school diploma equivalency programs
- Partnering with programs assisting formerly incarcerated people with workforce re-entry
Ford also pledged to fund or otherwise support an array of programs to bolster financial education, access to resources and enrichment activities for youth.
Priorities include:
- A community assistance fund for rent, utility and home repair expenses for “families facing temporary hardship”
- Increasing transportation options to healthcare and grocery stores
- Funding for more police and fire personnel and equipment
- Funding mobile healthcare services and Telehealth
- Supporting access to legal assistance through legal aid organizations and access to free tax preparation assistance
- Supporting after-school youth programs and increasing youth enrichment programs
- Supporting classes for financial literacy, business training and entrepreneurship
- Supporting literacy programs for adults and children
Environmental commitments
Ford has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and using carbon-free electricity in its manufacturing by 2035.
BlueOval City will “follow best practices” for environmental safeguards, including:
- No underground storage tanks
- Redundant safety features for chemical storage
- Dedicated wastewater drainage
- Reuse of industrial water and preservation of fresh water for human needs
- Installing groundwater monitoring wells
- Limiting emissions
- Heating the facility through heat recapture
- Implementing plans for spill and stormwater pollution prevention and plans for spill cleanup
- Requiring hazardous materials to be transported to and from the campus using routes that avoid neighborhoods
- Recycling battery scrap
Ford funded a stream restoration project at Lone Oaks Farm to mitigate its impact on wetlands disturbed by the campus’ construction, as required by the state. The company also invested in local conservancies and beautification efforts.
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