By Timothy Aeppel and Ben Klayman
MARSHALL, Michigan (Reuters) – Fred Chapman has a message for Ford Motor Co, which plans to build a sprawling factory on the outskirts of this city to make batteries for electric cars and promises to employ 2,500 people.
“We don’t need jobs,” he says.
It’s a startling view coming from Chapman, a 62-year-old toolmaker who has spent his entire career in manufacturing and has watched, over the decades, factory after factory close in the region, including one in Marshall. which manufactured auto parts where Chapman worked for nearly a decade. He now goes to a factory job in a nearby town.
One of the most entrenched ideas in America’s industrial heartland is that a manufacturing renaissance is needed to finally shake up the region’s “rustbelt” image. And there are signs that can start happening.
Construction spending at U.S. factories has more than doubled over the past year, hitting an annual rate of nearly $200 billion in May, according to the Census Bureau.
President Joe Biden has made reviving a factory a centerpiece of “Bidenomics,” and his administration pushed through laws such as the Cut Inflation Act and the CHIPS Act that both injected direct funding and tax incentives for manufacturing construction.
Manufacturing now accounts for nearly 13 million jobs in the United States, the highest since 2008. But that belies the fact that factory work is increasingly a niche slice of the U.S. labor market, accounting for a bit more than 8.3% of jobs in June, the lowest share on record. .
Many of the new factories being built are huge, involving billions of dollars in investment and creating thousands of jobs. Developers call these “megasites” and there is an increase in their construction across the United States.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: ‘STOP THE MEGASITE’
Ford officials have met resistance to its plans, however, in the latest iteration of a phenomenon known as NIMBY, which stands for “Not In My Back Yard”.
“It’s a trend we’re seeing across the country,” said Gabby Bruno, Ford’s chief economics officer, “and one that’s really accelerated recently due to the development of a number of these megasites, in especially in the area of clean energy.
Not everyone wants giant projects, even in places that would seem ripe for a factory revival. Shortly after Ford’s plan was announced in February, concerned residents blocked town meetings, demanding more details about what was to come. Signs have appeared on the sides of the roads which plead: “Stop the megasite”.
“It would all have been different if they had brought the community into the discussion,” said Glenn Kowalske, a retired engineer and one of the local leaders of the group fighting the project.
Opponents argue the project was rushed by final approvals and could cause environmental damage. It is built on former agricultural and wooded fields beside a meandering river just outside of town. Some fear that the new technology for building batteries could lead to accidents, which could allow lithium to seep into groundwater.
“I’m an engineer,” Kowalske said, “I know what lithium is – it’s a very volatile element.”
Ford’s Bruno said the automaker’s plant design includes plans for safety features such as double-walled tanks, dedicated pipes to collect industrial wastewater and special fencing to prevent soil runoff. in the nearby Kalamazoo River.
Critics also balk at the involvement of a Chinese company in the project: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd. Ford has a license to use CATL’s technology in the factory as well as the services provided by the Chinese battery giant.
Bruno countered that CATL’s involvement is “limited” and that the plant is 100% owned by Ford.
The very size of the project is also a sensitive point. A parcel of approximately 750 acres has been zoned for industrial development since the 1960s, and over the years other manufacturers have considered building a factory there. But as local economic development officials worked with Ford and other potential investors, it became clear they needed a much larger footprint. They added two adjoining parcels which added approximately 1,100 acres.
Only about 950 acres will be used by Ford, Bruno said, part of which will be set aside as a conservation easement along the river. The rest was reserved by economic development officials for suppliers and other developments.
To be sure, residents often struggle with large developments that threaten to alter the character of their communities. In some cases, they win, as happened when New Yorkers pushed back against Amazon Inc’s efforts to build a second headquarters in the city.
COMMUNITY BARRIERS
The most common result is delays as local opponents launch legal challenges and raise other roadblocks. In Marshall, residents called for a referendum on the project, garnering more than 800 signatures in a town of 6,800. That effort stalled, however, after the city rejected the petition. Activists are now filing a complaint.
James Durian, CEO of the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance, which spearheaded the development, said he understands some residents were surprised by the size of the project and the speed at which it came to fruition. But he argues it was necessary to land Ford.
Durian said he understands concerns about Chinese involvement in the project. The United States has an adversarial relationship with China, but he said it has become “a little weird and paranoid”.
Sue Damron, owner of Schuler’s Restaurant and Pub in downtown Marshall, supports the project. She thinks the factory workers will move to Marshall to work for Ford. “People who come to work for Ford have spouses and children,” she said. “They will give me a base of employees to add to my small business.”
But Chapman, the toolmaker, remains skeptical. His house is across from the Ford site, known as BlueOval Battery Park, and he was approached to sell his house to developers. But he doesn’t want to move.
Meanwhile, he sees an impending labor problem. The unemployment rate in nearby Calhoun County is 4.6% — higher than the national unemployment rate of 3.6% — but still low by historical standards. He notes that the factory he works at in nearby Battle Creek is struggling to find skilled workers.
“I’m in the industry. I see it,” he said, adding that his company has even recruited Mexican workers to fill positions. “It’s just weird, there is no reserve of workers.”
(Reporting by Timothy Aeppel in New York and Ben Klayman in Marshall, Michigan; Editing by Dan Burns and Nick Zieminski)