In September of 2021, Ford Motor Company announced plans for a $5.6 billion dollar manufacturing facility in Tennessee, the largest investment in the state’s history. The West Tennessee Mega Site, otherwise known as Blue Oval City, is a 4,100-acre, 6-square-mile industrial park located in Haywood County near Stanton, Tenn. and just twelve miles from Brownsville, Tenn. Ford will build the next-generation electric truck in the Blue Oval City assembly plant with batteries supplied by SK Innovation in a plant adjacent to the assembly plant. Total employment at the two plants is expected to reach 6,000 with many more employment opportunities at supplier plants located on the Mega Site. The first electric trucks are expected to roll off the line in early 2025. Walbridge, the project’s general contractor, began site preparations in March 2022.

Ford describes Blue Oval City as an “automotive manufacturing ecosystem” which will “reimagine how electric vehicles and batteries are designed.” The site will also contain a state-of-the-art, State of Tennessee Technology Center where students will be trained for high-tech jobs at Blue Oval City. It is further described by Ford as “accelerating our progress toward a carbon neutral future” with a “TN Workforce of the Future.” When complete, Blue Oval City will be a world-recognized gem set amidst verdant farmland just minutes from the Hatchie River and the 10,000-acre Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge and will transform Haywood County and the West Tennessee area.