Site plans approved ahead of groundbreaking at Blue Oval City

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - There’s a green light for construction to begin at Blue Oval City, Ford’s $5.6 billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Haywood County, Tennessee.

“It’s extraordinary! Their building is between two-thirds and three-quarters of a mile long. We’ve never seen a plant like this anywhere in West Tennessee. So, it’s extremely impressive,” Tipton County Mayor Jeff Huffman said.

Mayor Huffman sits on the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee, and on Thursday, March 10, the board approved Ford’s site plan.

The layout of the buildings, location of the waste water treatment plant and retention ponds, the overall plan, said Huffman, is exciting to see. He also said Ford promised to be environmentally conscious.

“They plan to be carbon neutral when they start in May 2025,” said Huffman. “So they are extremely concerned about the resources in West Tennessee: the air, the water, the land.”

The Megasite Authority still has to approve the site plan for SK Innovations, the South Korean battery maker that will also be on the Blue Oval campus. But next Tuesday, Huffman said the first dirt will get moved.

“We’ve gone through a lot of Megasite fatigue. But we’ve been chasing this car, and now we’ve caught it, and it’s a really big car and we’re trying to figure out what to do with it. It’s a great opportunity for West Tennessee,” Huffman said.

Ford officials and the Megasite Authority also heard from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development today about plans to train the local workforce. Blue Oval will employ nearly 6,000 people. That’s in addition to the 18,000 to 22,000 construction workers and support staff who will help build it.

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