Governor Mike DeWine joined Ford Motor company officials as they announced plans to invest $1.5 billion at the Ohio Assembly Plant in Lorain County to build new electric commercial vehicles.
The company says it will invest $3.7 billion across three states- Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri- and it will convert about 3,000 temporary workers to full-time status with benefits. The factory in Lorain will be expanded so it can build an unidentified new electric commercial vehicle, with 1,800 new jobs.
The move comes more than a year after the United Auto Workers criticized Ford for planning to build a new vehicle plant in Mexico.
6,200 new UAW-Ford jobs in the Midwest, ~3,000 temp. employees converted to permanent full-time with healthcare benefits, and $1B invested over 5 years to improve the workplace environment in U.S. plants. #BuiltForAmerica #BuiltFordProud pic.twitter.com/JkN5IqZGOU
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) June 2, 2022
“1800 new jobs. And these are 1800 jobs of the future,” said Governor DeWine. “Our future is that manufacturing is now moving Ohio forward. This is the future of manufacturing. This is the future of Ford Motor Company. This is the future of our workers as we make electric vehicles.”
Ford officials say the manufacturing jobs will create 74,000 indirect jobs by 2026. Ford also plans to spend $100 million between the Lima Engine and Sharonville Transmission plants, creating 90 jobs.
“These jobs are a force multiplier, all throughout the community, all throughout the state. One manufacturing job is just a tremendous force multiplier,“ said DeWine. "We’re poised to make electric batteries. We’re poised to make the chips with Intel company coming in to make the chips that we need, so we’re making more things here in the United States.”
Cleveland.com reports Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, said Ohio provided $200 million in incentives to encourage the investment.
This morning, I helped announce @Ford's $1.5B investment into Lorain County. Ford has been a partner in Ohio for generations, & its confidence in the Ford Ohio Assembly Plant operations in Avon Lake secures EV operations in Lorain County that will be critical for decades to come. pic.twitter.com/SSAzPhv4Aq
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) June 2, 2022
Ford estimates the jobs and investment will be effective around 2025.
