Stanton, Tennessee (AP) —Ford plans to build a factory to manufacture electric pickups, and as the clean energy revolution comes to Stanton, Lessatard hopes to offer more chicken wings and cheeseburgers. .. So she plans to expand with a small town in western Tennessee.
Her canteen is strategically located at the busiest intersection in a community of about 450 people, servicing thousands of workers arriving when construction begins and a vast vehicle and battery manufacturing facility opens. I’m looking forward to doing it.
“I can’t see anything but great things happening,” said Tard, who runs Kan’s diner with her husband. “Once people come here and start working, some may want to move and the community can grow, which is good for the region.”
Stanton is one of two small southern towns that are likely to undergo dramatic changes following Ford’s announcement on Monday that Stanton and Glendale, Kentucky will be at the center of plans to increase electric vehicle production. is.
Ford announced that it will spend $ 5.6 billion on Stanton to build a plant to produce electric F-series pickup trucks in collaboration with battery partner SK Innovation Co., Ltd. of South Korea. A joint venture called BlueOvalSK will build a battery plant in the same location near Memphis and a twin battery plant in Glendale, central Kentucky. Ford estimated Kentucky’s investment at $ 5.8 billion. The project will create an estimated 10,800 jobs and shift the future manufacturing footprint of automakers to the south.
Residents of both towns combine cautious optimism and greed to look at change and realize that their familiar way of life may be turning into something unrecognizable, but it may be prosperous. doing.
When Ford announced plans to build two battery mills outside Glendale on Monday night, residents lived slowly in a close Kentucky agricultural community surrounded by corn and soybean fields. I enjoyed the rhythm. I wondered if that day was counted from the front porch to the parking lot of the general store.
Residents seemed to hope that the promise of 5,000 jobs would increase the chances of young people getting stuck. But they were worried about the problems that rapid growth could cause.
“Yes, we need a job,” said Nikki Basham. “Yes, it will help the economy. It has its strengths and weaknesses. Glendale is a small town, you’ll be a little fleeing. I’ll see what happens.”
Basham, the mother of two young children, has lived in a community of hundreds of Hardin County for 17 years since she was a teenager. She said it was important for the settlement to grow, but she also liked the quiet lifestyle with a single highway to and from the town.
“I really don’t want to be hit by a lot of traffic,” she said.
Amanda Medley said the battery factory will open up opportunities for young adults who have to go to Louisville about 50 miles (80 km) north to find a job.
“Not many young people stay here,” said medley, a volunteer firefighter. “They go to school. They move to other places. Maybe we keep some of the young people around.”
The plant was able to attract workers from a wide range of Kentucky. Hardin County had an unemployment rate of 3.7% in August, with the highest unemployment rate in the District 8 region at 4.4%.
Ford’s Executive Chairman, Bilford, was at an event outside Frankfort’s Kentucky General Assembly on Tuesday, where automakers were “good neighbors and enriched the communities in which we participate. I will work hard to give back. ” According to the company, Ford has recently donated $ 6.5 million to support the entire Kentucky community through its charitable Ford Foundation. Ford has two vehicle assembly plants in Louisville.
In Glendale, less than a block, the business district, where shops were adorned with moms and Halloween decorations, is expected to change dramatically. Currently, the main form of commerce is nostalgia. There are many antique shops in the community, but perhaps the most famous business is the Whistlestop Restaurant, a decade-old restaurant that washed away fried green tomatoes, country fried steaks, fried chicken, and pies with sweet tea.
There is already talk of the restaurant opening up the dining area on the second floor and creating an outdoor seating area to accommodate the influx of workers and perhaps residents of the new area, said Jamie Henry, the restaurant’s manager. Henry said.
“It’s like collecting lottery tickets and winning,” she said.
Tard has its own expansion plan. She wants to add staff, expand business hours, and increase the 34-seat diner.
“Now it’s very quiet here. Everything shuts down at 7 or 8 o’clock,” Tard said. “At 8 o’clock, it’s a ghost town. There will be more traffic all day and all night.”
The two Kentucky battery factories will be built on 1,551 acres (627 hectares) on the outskirts of Glendale near Interstate 65. The site was provided 20 years before Kentucky finally failed to land a modern car manufacturing plant in Alabama.
The state continued to market Glendale’s site across the terms of multiple governors, losing sight of other industries until Democratic Governor Andy Beshear landed a large battery factory.
“Everyone knew something was coming for a really long time,” said Laura Tab, a resident of Glendale. “So this isn’t a big shock because I know someone is coming. Everyone has been waiting for nearly 20 years for this to happen.”
But that would be a shock to some. Recently, two cats relaxed in the middle of the road on a quiet side street in Glendale. Near the makeshift “Cat Crossroads” sign, encourage the driver to slow down and be unaffected by what’s in the store.
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Schleiner reported in Glendale, Kentucky.
A small town supports change and prosperity with Ford’s arrival | WGN Radio 720
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