The company is still in line to receive the public money even with the job cuts, because the incentive deal only mentioned creating hourly jobs and the company axed salaried employees.Īsked about comparable details in the newly announced deals, Whitmer and MEDC CEO Quentin Messer said money dispersed through the Critical Investment Fund is tied to performance from the companies, meaning Gotion - a company without the same Michigan footprint as Ford - and Our Next Energy will have to meet job creation benchmarks. The pushback intensified when Ford announced it planned to slash 3,000 jobs globally, with many of those cuts coming in Michigan. Whitmer and legislative leaders garnered criticism in the past for other economic development deals, including one that provided more than $100 million to Ford. More: Michigan Senate approves $100 million incentive for Ford, clearing last legislative hurdle More: Ford could cut 8,000 salaried jobs - and still get $100M incentive from Michigan The measure the Legislature is considering today is reckless and irresponsible to taxpayers, and I will be voting against it," Albert said at the time. Additional spending would just make things worse.
“Increased government spending has fueled inflation and played a major part in the economic struggles we face today. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, who resigned as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee over how lawmakers wanted to use the money. While the move received widespread bipartisan support, several key GOP state lawmakers opposed the deal. Michigan lawmakers recently sent $846 million to the state fund used to dole out incentive money. Incentive assistance is necessary to ensure this project moves forward in Michigan, particularly in a highly competitive environment," the memo states. "Gotion has considered Michigan for previous battery cell manufacturing projects but ultimately chose locations in other key competitor states based on incentive assistance offered by those states. To justify the need for the sizable incentive going to Gotion, the MEDC memo notes electric vehicles are a massively expanding industry and says luring companies in the field is difficult. In total, the two projects will bring $4 billion in investment to the state. The projects are the latest approved by the GOP-led Legislature and Whitmer in an effort to use hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to entice large corporations to expand in or move to Michigan. A tax break through the State Essential Services Assessment Exemption valued at $21.6 million.
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