DEARBORN – Ford Motor Company is dropping $3.5 billion to create an electric vehicle battery park in Marshall, which Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation is hoping to back with a $210 million state-funded attraction award.

Last Monday, at the Ford Battery Center of Excellence in Romulus, Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley announced how the $3.5 billion investment will be a “key part” in the more than $50 billion the automobile manufacturer is spending to advance the United States’ position in the EV revolution. As part of the deal, Ford is also receiving $772 million over 15 years in real and personal property tax reductions through a Renaissance Zone grant. The Jobs for Michigan Investment Fund Loan would also kick in $36 million.

The aforementioned $210 million state-funded award was requested by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s (MEDC’s) strategic fund board to come out of the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund.

Quentin Messer Jr. – the MEDC’s executive director – told members of the media that the $210 million would be issued as a Critical Industry Program grant, which is performance-based, within the SOAR Fund.