Production, grants discussed during BlueOval City’s community meeting

STANTON, Tenn. — A monthly community meeting for BlueOval City was held Wednesday morning.

The meeting started with discussion about potential grants that could be awarded to communities around West Tennessee. There was also discussion about previous grants and how they have helped our towns and cities. One of these being a tourism enhancement grant.

“One of our success stories on this one, this is one of our favorites, the city of Martin added a permanent 64 by 48 foot outdoor stage to the side of their library. Then, in the second round, they applied again for the same project and added permanent lighting and sound,” said Andi Grindley, outreach projects coordinator.

Deborah Knoll then began speaking about educational opportunities that can be connected with future employment at BlueOval City. This included something called ‘HTL University.’ Haywood, Tipton, and Lauderdale counties are partnering together to help students with their future.

“This is really the first year of a roll out for them. So what we’re trying to do is capture best practices and then try to replicate what we see working really well, what we see as barriers, and working through those pieces,” said Knoll.

Finally, there was another update regarding the overall start of production for BlueOval City. As we have learned previously, there have been some delays, however, there will still be some production next year.

“The production for Ford is delayed about 18 months. It’ll be 2027 when Ford goes into production. But the plans for SK are still moving forward,” said Brooxie Carlton, .

The November meeting will be about developing industrial sites.

There will be a groundbreaking for the Ford Community Center located at the Stanton school. The address is 5 Lafayette Street in Stanton. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. with a luncheon to follow.

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