Stanton resident talks BlueOval City, partnership with community
Betty Watkins-Lee, a member of BlueOval Good Neighbors, talks about the history of her family living in Stanton for more than 100 years and why she decided to join the coalition.
Correction: This story has been updated to state that Vision Haywood has plans to partner with an existing law firm in Covington.
A day after Ford Motor Co. unveiled its Good Neighbor Plan and $9 million community investment, a West Tennessee group said it is continuing to push for a legally binding community benefits agreement with the automaker.
In a news release issued Friday, BlueOval Good Neighbors said it was pleased to see several investments in the Good Neighbor Plan refer directly to solutions proposed by the group, including rent assistance and environmental monitoring.
But, while BlueOval Good Neighbors waits to see the impacts of the investments, it plans to continue urging Ford to sign a legally binding community benefits agreement with them that they believe will hold Ford accountable to its commitment in West Tennessee.
“While Ford will make billions of dollars from BlueOval City, the predominantly Black communities of the region will face detrimental impacts through skyrocketing housing costs, strains on infrastructure, and long-term impacts on the environment without concrete and binding commitments,” BlueOval Good Neighbors said in the news release. “The people who have lived here for generations will face — and already are facing — life-changing consequences.”
Ford wasn’t immediately available for comment Friday, but has told The Commercial Appeal in the past that its voluntary Good Neighbor Plan will essentially function in the same way as a community benefits agreement with publicly stated commitments to community investments.
BlueOval Good Neighbors, which formed in summer 2023, is a group of local residents, labor groups such as United Auto Workers and other community partners from across West Tennessee, from Stanton and Brownsville to Somerville and Mason. BlueOval Good Neighbors is supported by advocacy group Tennessee For All, which is a coalition of community, labor and faith organizations.
BlueOval Good Neighbors’ demands in a proposed legally binding community agreement include:
- Local hiring commitments and workforce development programs that focus on formerly incarcerated workers and other historically disadvantaged groups.
- Ensuring access to quality, affordable housing and protections from housing shock for the long-term.
- Repairing harm to Black farmers and investing in public land ownership.
- Protecting air, land, and water and ensuring worker and community health and safety.
- Investing in Black-led community organizations and facilities in the region and preserving the history of our agricultural communities.
According to Gabby Bruno, Ford’s director of community relations, the automotive giant will invest in workforce development, building community and protecting the environment in the communities around its BlueOval City campus as part of its Good Neighbor Plan. She noted it brings Ford’s total community investment to date in West Tennessee to $30 million.
The Michigan-based automaker’s $5.6 billion BlueOval City electric truck and battery campus is under construction in Haywood County. The start of production and customer deliveries of the company’s new EV truck model are expected in 2027.
Bruno said the Good Neighbor Plan is primarily designed to serve residents within a 15-mile radius around BlueOval City or areas closest to the site, where one-third of households have an income of less than $50,000 a year. Bruno said residents will start to see benefits from the Good Neighbor Plan rolled out over the next few years with the majority of the $9 million investments being made in the next 12 to 18 months.
“Ford has a strong belief that every community surrounding BlueOval City should benefit as the complex comes to life,” Bruno said. “We (Ford) don’t come into a neighborhood and act like we know what’s best for the community. Instead, we get their input and listen and learn about what’s important to them. We show up, and talk to residents as well as do surveys, listening sessions and we form advisory councils. We then invest in things that are important to residents.”
The Good Neighbor Plan is arranged around key needs identified by Ford and the Equitable Growth Advisory Council with investments falling under the categories of workforce, youth programs, literacy programs, community gathering spaces, support for farmers and businesses, and community preservation. The plan includes more than 60 individual donations.
Equitable Growth Advisory Council members show support for Ford’s plan
Brownsville Mayor Bill Rawls was among the 30 community representatives on the Equitable Growth Advisory Council. For Brownsville, the plan will include funding going toward a new splash pad that will be adjacent to the city’s community pool. Rawls believes the Good Neighbor Plan will make a difference in the communities impacted by BlueOval City. He said a big piece to the Good Neighbor Plan was supporting the nonprofits in the different communities.
“I think it is a very necessary step in keeping Ford connected to the community,” Rawls said. “The greatest asset in our community are the people that live here so as we continue to build infrastructure coming from this economic boom, we wanted to make sure the people are taking care of. I’m very happy about the plan and it is a breathing living document that will have seven pillars and addresses the feedback that we have heard from the community about what they want to see done.”
Emma Covington is also a member of the Equitable Growth Advisory Council. She serves as co-chair on the council. The Brownsville resident is the executive director of the nonprofit Vision Haywood where she manages a network of 27 legal services agencies, with more than 430 housing counselors, as they provide the necessary housing-related counseling, advice and assistance to the public.
She said the funding Vision Haywood is receiving from Ford will help in assisting more people who are struggling to pay their rent, utility bills and provide home repair assistance. Vision Haywood also has plans to partner with an existing law firm in Covington that includes helping individuals clear title to their property.
“That funding will help us expand our services to be able to help more people and also add in Fayette and Tipton counties in helping those residents there,” Covington said.
Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.
