Local leaders get update on Blue Oval City progress

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — Local leaders met to discuss the beginning stages of the Blue Oval City project on Wednesday.

Kel Kearns and Andy Bianco with Ford Motor Company addressed concerns from leaders.

The project is still in phase one, which is preparing the land for construction. Phase two will consist of the building of the facility.

Brownsville Mayor Bill Rawls says this was the first of many meetings to get some of their questions answered.

“Transportation, how do we address that? Housing, how do we address that? How do we have communication?” Mayor Rawls questioned. “We have a concern, how do we funnel those questions and those concerns to make sure that Ford, SK Innovations, or Tennessee Economic Development get those questions?”

Among topics brought to the table is a plan for educating those that will eventually take the jobs created by the facility. And they say they will be working closely with school systems in the region to implement a curriculum.

“The workforce development piece that they talked about today begins in K-12,” said Joe Barker, a local government representative for the Blue Oval project. “I think Ford wants to work with the local school systems to implement the programs needed to have the pipeline for the workforce.”

Rawls says he feels confident in the transparency and communication the region has with Ford, and this will help them provide the necessary resources to thrive in the recent growth.

“Every county has a joint economic community development board,” Mayor Rawls said. “We have appointed members of the community to that board and then we have subcommittees that will break out into education, marketing, quality of life, infrastructure. I want to make sure our children and our children’s children embrace this opportunity and understand the magnitude of the moment.”

The project is estimated to be completed by 2025.

Rawls says Ford and local leaders will continue to meet and communicate until then.

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