Arlington can expect some of the most substantial growth from Ford’s new BlueOval City, predicts Brooxie Carlton, Assistant Commissioner of Rural and Community Development for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
Carlton visited with Arlington Chamber of Commerce members Wednesday, July 13, at their monthly membership luncheon. She discussed the potential impact Ford’s $5.6 billion project will have on nearby communities like Arlington.
“I think Arlington has probably the potential to grow the most,” Carlton said. “We do know that there’s going to be population growth. Because this will happen over 30 years, you have time to plan and you have a responsibility to plan.”
Dirt work has begun on the BlueOval City mega campus, which will occupy 3,600 acres of the Megasite of West Tennessee, about 20 miles east of Arlington along Interstate 40. An official groundbreaking is expected next summer.
“Suppliers are already out and about trying to find locations,” Carlton said.
She estimates there will be 12 to 15 suppliers onsite. Ford will select who goes there, and other suppliers will be looking to locate within a couple hours radius.
“This is going to impact all of West Tennessee,” Carlton said.
In the past couple of months, a privately owned Arlington light industrial site has been evaluated and considered for development by an automotive industry supplier.
“There should be some information out in the next month or two about developing that property,” said Carlton, who feels Arlington will need to decide if it wants that in their town. “Fayette County has told me they want distribution and logistics in their community. They don’t want the heavy industry suppliers.”
Arlington Mayor Mike Wissman says Arlington also does not want heavy industry but does like light industry.
“Like Microport or Stryker, if you manufacture something and have your trucks deliver it, that’s fine. But we don’t want a two-million-square-foot distribution warehouse with trucks coming in and out all day because those don’t provide a lot of jobs,” he said.
“Arlington’s not looking to grab anything that comes by. I want to make that clear,” Wissman said. “We’ve already told ‘no’ to a lot of people. We will work with people with quality developments.”
He notes that Arlington’s close proximity to BlueOval City, its top-rated school system, infrastructure in place for development and abundance of undeveloped land puts the town in an ideal position.
“While it is exciting, it’s going to be a challenge for not just Arlington but any administration in this whole region to be able to handle that type of growth and make sure that they’re prepared for what’s coming up,” Wissman said. “We just want to make sure we get the right development, both residential and commercial.”
The first hires by Ford for the site will be engineers next year, and production should start by 2025. A new TCAT facility at the site is scheduled to open by 2024 to help with workforce development.
“Right now, it’s all about us being prepared and wrapping our minds around it,” Arlington Chamber of Commerce Director Tonia Howell said. “It’s just up to us how we want to benefit.”
Carlton says that despite the fact that there is a large start-up culture around electric vehicles, or EVs, Tennessee is not pursuing those companies.
“There’s a lot of money out there that start-ups have, but the question is will they continue to have money coming in? So we’re placing our bets on the Fords of the world,” she said.
With the increased EV production from BlueOval City and other OEMs across the state, TDEC and the Tennessee Department of Transportation should announce plans next month for installing EV chargers every 50 miles on the state’s most-traveled roads.