Clearly, we are all disappointed that there was not an announcement of 2,500 new jobs in the area last month. Likewise, we were disappointed that the previous project, Hyundai, chose not to bring over 8,000 jobs to the Berry Hill Megasite. These big projects are game changers for economies. However, the bigger the project, the tougher the competition. The Berry Hill site is an excellent property and, therefore, will bring the right prospect.
Mecklenburg County faced the same disappointment and frustration fourteen years ago when Apple Computer chose North Carolina over Virginia. In that case, Governor Tim Kaine’s administration was unwilling to compete for that billion dollar plus project. One year later, Microsoft visited the same site and found it perfect. Today, that site is their largest data center in the world with several others now under construction or in the planning stage.
In the Richmond area, a Chinese paper company that had first looked at the Danville/Pittsylvania area and that proposed a power plant in addition to the paper production announced they were going to build their facility in Chesterfield County. They had selected a key development site in Chesterfield County. After five years of delays, they finally announced they were not coming to the site. Sadly, this prevented the county from any development on a prime location during that period.
This is not something that we would want to occur at the Berry Hill site, with the city, county, and state’s investment being locked up, preventing the marketing of Berry Hill. Some have chosen to make this a political football, serving no purpose. That could well have happened with this project.
In the case of the project that has been referred to as the Ford project, it was actually a partnership with a Chinese company, CATL. Effectively, Ford would have been the outside shell of a building, allowing CCP-linked CATL to own and operate the inner workings.
A major part of their plan was contingent upon a major infusion of taxpayer funds from the federal government designed for American companies hiring American workers. Easily, those in Washington could have challenged the use of those dollars going to facility that was operated by the Chinese partners of the proposal. This could have caused delays or canceled plans that all of us would, in hindsight, regret.
Recent news stories inaccurately claimed the project was a done deal and that the Governor had blocked it. The fact is there was no commitment from Ford or CATL. The timeline is that Ford wanted a commitment from the state prior to the first of the year in hopes of accessing those federal dollars. To accomplish that, Ford/CATL had to make a commitment by December 31st. I, as Chairman of the Virginia Tobacco Commission, worked with Jason El Koubi, President of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, to put the final touches on a proposal the Friday before Christmas.
Ford/CATL themselves refuted a news story that an agreement had been reached with Virginia. An earlier weeks old story in Bloomberg News reported that the prospect was focused on two finalist states, Michigan and Virginia. Since no announcement has yet been made, it appears that Michigan also had concerns. Ford/CATL still has not announced their intentions.
