Detroit, MI – Chief James Craig, candidate for governor, responds to Whitmer’s admission that the state failed to land Ford battery plants because of a lousy economic development strategy.
“It took Gov. Whitmer over three months to admit what we already knew – her administration was caught off guard by Ford’s decision to open multi-billion dollar battery plants out-of-state,” said Chief James Craig. “It’s just another example of Whitmer’s failure to lead. Under Whitmer, our state hasn’t passed a budget on time, and the roads – which are critical to Michigan’s economic development – continue to be neglected despite her promise to fix them. As governor, I’ll ensure Michigan is ready on day one to attract new business and keep companies like Ford in Michigan.”
Background
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told FOX 2’s Tim Skubick that Michigan had a “dysfunctional” economic development strategy and that’s why Ford Motor Company ignored Michigan and chose to build two new car battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee – an almost $11 billion investment.
“We’ve not had the same kind of economic development tools that other states have,” Whitmer told Skubick. “Lansing is considered dysfunctional by some, and the process frankly moves too slow.”
Whitmer also admited that her administration was caught off guard by Ford, and that there wasn’t a conversation beforehand.”I don’t believe that there was a real conversation about whether they could do the same thing here in Michigan,” she said.