A coalition of community members from cities surrounding Ford’s new BlueOval City manufacturing campus in West Tennessee issued a list of requirements for a legally binding community benefits agreement this month, prompting Ford to negotiate.

Their demands include corporate commitments to hire local workers at fair wages, create funds to support local residents as rents and living costs rise, monitor the campus’s environmental impact, and give a newly created “BlueOval Good Neighbors Community Board” the authority to monitor and enforce these regulations.

The list — which is based on community input gathered by BlueOval Good Neighbors and the advocacy group Tennessee for All from their own community outreach over the past two years — has not yet been approved by Ford.

The company has been running a separate 2-year outreach effort to gather input for a yet-to-be-released “Good Neighbor Plan.” This effort is overseen by a Fair Growth Advisory Council comprised of 25 community leaders and elected officials selected by Ford.

The 6-square-mile campus will be built on approximately 3,300 acres of what was once farmland in the southwest corner of Haywood County. The $5.6 billion campus will include electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities, a supplier park, a rail link and a wastewater treatment plant.

The massive venture — one of the largest battery and vehicle manufacturing campuses in the country — is just 1.5 miles south of Stanton, a small town of less than 600 residents. Mason, a majority black town of just over 1,300 residents, is about 6 miles west of the facility.

“We want the residents of all communities bordering the BlueOval City to benefit as the campus comes to life and we look forward to introducing the Good Neighbor Plan soon,” spokeswoman Jessica Enoch wrote in an email to the Tennessee Lookout. “Ford has been contacted by numerous groups that claim to speak on behalf of residents, many of whom are not even from the area. It would not be possible for us to work with any third-party group that claims to speak on behalf of residents. In fact, that what we hear most from the residents is that they want to speak for themselves.”

Community members, leaders and union representatives gathered at a Nov. 16 rally organized by BlueOval Good Neighbors and Tennessee for All said they want a voice in their future, supported by the legal strengthening of a community benefits agreement.

They agree that development brings opportunities, but growing pains are already evident. The meeting participants described neighbors losing their rental homes when landlords sold property after Ford came to town. One woman described seeing trees cleared and smelling smoke as downed logs were burned. Some have seen rent and property tax increase as property values ​​rise. Many have received offers to buy their homes.

“You get these little things in the mail where people want to buy your house, and they have enough guts to offer me $35,000,” Mason Alderwoman Virginia Rivers said. “Where am I going to buy a house for (that). If I sell what I have, I can’t even go and buy something else.”