A big win for Marshall — and Michigan

The recent announcement that Ford Motor Co. will build a battery plant in Marshall is a big win for Michigan.

e plant, which is expected to begin production in 2026, will create 2,500 jobs and produce enough new battery capacity to power 400,000 electric vehicles.

For Marshall and nearby communities, the facility means an injection of much-needed jobs.

For Michigan, it represents an important feather in its economic development cap, demonstrating the state’s ability to compete for the future.

Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan will be placed on a 950-acre “megasite” that was prepared and marketed by the state of Michigan as it vied against other states for the plant. While Executive Chairman Bill Ford said he was pulling for his home state to win, victory wasn’t a given. “ ey had to go out and get it, and they did,” he said.

Ford will license technology and contract services from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., a Chinese-based company, to make the lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries. Ford will own the plant and employ the workers, who will be represented by the UAW.

While General Motors Co. and suppliers, such as Gotion Inc. and Our Next Energy Inc., have announced EV-related job creation over the past 13 months, getting another of the major automakers to make a big investment in Michigan is signi cant.

So is the location.

e site is near the junction of I-94 and I-69, both vital routes for international trade. e siting, planning and execution of the location demonstrated strategic forethought on the part of the state and its local partners.

As part of the deal, Ford will protect 245 acres of property along the Kalamazoo River. is is smart stewardship, particularly given its proximity to where an underground Enbridge pipeline ruptured in 2010, contaminating the river.

While there have been some concerns raised locally about the plant potentially changing the nature of life in the small town of Marshall, citing the oil spill as a basis for opposition, as some have done, is misguided. is will be a modern, state-of-the-art facility run by one of Michigan’s most highly regarded companies.

And while farmland will be developed to make way for the facility, that will be a wise tradeo given the number of jobs created. Yes, agriculture is also vital to Michigan’s economy but the location of this property near the junction of two interstates destines it for a more active use.

Another signi cant change the plant represents is opportunity — opportunity for future generations to prosper in the region. Marshall is rightfully proud of its small-town charm and historic homes, and that won’t change. If anything, the economic boost will ensure those attributes remain.

More than a 150 years ago, in the mid1800s, Marshall made a strong push to be the location of the state Capitol when lawmakers were looking to move it from Detroit. It lost, of course, to Lansing. is time, Marshall wins. And so does Michigan.