China Based Company Given Millions In Tennessee Tax Dollars Lays Off Workers And Says It Needs More Money
Image Credit: Microvast Inc. / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A company based in China that was given millions in incentives to create an EV battery plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, laid off workers earlier this month while claiming it needs more money to finish building.
Microvast promised almost 300 jobs to Tennesseans three years ago, but performance reports filed with the state show very few jobs have been created.
According to Clarksville Now, a former employee reports that many workers have been terminated as of April 19th.
The “reduction in force” is due to economic difficulties according to Microvast CEO Yang Wu. In a memo to employees, Wu said that the company needed to make “difficult decisions” as they reduce costs and search out further funding.
In 2022, Microvast estimated that it would cost $304.5 million to complete the project in Montgomery county. The year before, the company received a $3 million FastTrack grant from the state to help offset expenses. Microvast also received a $5 million abatement on county real and personal property taxes over the first 20 years of plant operations.
In October 2022, the company was expected to receive $200 million in federal grants related to the production of electric vehicle batteries and announced plans for a second plant in Clarksville that would have created 700 to 800 new jobs.
Following an inquiry into its ties to the Chinese government, the U.S. Energy Department decided not to award the $200 million to Microvast, while declining to say whether the decision was connected to China’s alleged governmental influence over the company. Microvast ended up abandoning plans for the second plant as well as for an additional facility in Kentucky.
At the time of the grant’s withdrawal, Wu – an American citizen – said the the company was surprised by the news but that it would have no impact on their plans for the initial plant in Clarksville.
“Our priority remains completing our battery manufacturing facility in Clarksville, Tennessee,” said Microvast’s CFO Craig Webster. “This facility is a key business focus for us and will be a key contributor to our growth in the coming years.”
The plant was originally slated to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2023, but is only halfway finished according to Webster. Another $150 million is needed to complete the project. Wu said that once financing is secure, it will take another six to eight months to finish up.
In exchange for local and state tax incentives, Microvast is required to have 80% of 287 promised jobs filled by the end of 2025. If the company does not fill those 230 jobs, the incentives will be terminated. The state has similar clawback provisions tied to its funds.
Josh Ward, Vice President of Industrial Development with the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council, says that Microvast hired prematurely for the anticipated opening of the plant and that they expect to fill the positions again when the plant is finally completed.
Speaking to Clarksville Now, Ward said that it was disappointing that the company didn’t get the funding they needed to to build the plant earlier but offered this reassurance, “We just want people to know their taxpayer dollars are protected.”
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
Need more ca$h?
Then go grovel to your communist leader Xi.
$$$
Tennessee is proving itself to be a state ruled by globalist rino’s. Anything for a dollar, out of the pockets of We the People and into the pockets of?
Thw rinos are turning the conservative peoples state into a liberal china supporting, illegal alien housing, anti 2nd Amendment blue state.
Hey TN RINO’s…………..How much money are you personally being paid to SCREW OVER the native Tenneseans for some POS CCP company??? When did you sell your souls to the almighty dollar for turning a blind, complicit eye to the purposeful destruction of our country? I do not say lightly I wish all of you a nice warm place after you die where accountability is real and horribly unpleasant. You know who you are and your days are numbered.
Well stated Rainey.
ANYTHING based on EV is a giant fail. They simply aren’t viable. I’m not smart but it was obvious to me from the get-go. Sadly, we got MANY legislators either stupid or bought.
We have many that are both stupid and bought. See the Pfizer Contingent republicans for example.
My dad was stationed at Ft. Campbell when I graduated high school from Montgomery Christian Academy in Clarksville. Interesting how this Chinese plant is being built near a large Army post that is home to the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles.
Tried to warn you that rino Lee’s ev projects would end that same as barry hussein’s solar panels. The chinese owned multi million dollar plant, Solyndra, in California never produced one panel. Let the battery plant die and stop blue oval city from going any further. Rino Lee isn’t much better than comrade gruesome or moonbeam brown before him. Don’t californicate our Tennessee.
Question
Of the subsidized inflated EV retail costs, Home charger installation, and increased tire expenditures, how much goes to Counties for additional road repair due to overweight vehicle damage?
Blue oval building ev batteries is a big waste of tax payer money. They should never allowed china to own anything in our country!
Look at all these morons commenting like they know anything about the company. FYI, they don’t make consumer EVs durgggghhhh. This website is a POS