A small Illinois town of just 9,000 residents has approved the construction of a $2 billion Chinese electric vehicle battery factory, despite protests from locals who say the company is “un-American.”
The village council in Manteno, Illinois, approved a zoning change that clears the way for construction of the Gotion Inc. factory, but the decision has divided locals.
Gotion's plant is expected to generate $536 million in state subsidies. creating 2,600 local jobs and will further Governor JB Pritzker's desire to make Illinois an EV hub.
The company is a California-based subsidiary of China's Gotion High-Tech. It has been operating in the US for almost a decade and is 30 percent owned by Volkswagen.
The village council in Manteno, Illinois, has approved a zoning change that will clear the way for construction of the Gotion Inc. factory, but the decision has divided locals.
The issue was voted down 5-1 on Monday, when dozens of locals came out to protest the project, holding signs reading “go home Gotion.”
The plant will be built on 150 acres of land currently occupied by an abandoned Kmart warehouse distribution facility, just off Interstate Highway 57.
The issue was voted down 5-1 on Monday, when dozens of locals came out to protest the project, holding signs reading “go home Gotion.”
Many feared Chinese influence that could seep into the city.
However, other locals filled the room with “Go for Gotion” signs.
Gotion will now have to go through the village's permitting process after winning the vote in the small town.
According to the Chicago TribuneManteno Mayor Timothy Nugent said, “I hate to see the city divided.
“Believe me, there are views on all sides and no one has a monopoly on the right views.”
Manteno resident Kerri Rolniak said, “We are angry. We are angry. We think they are very un-American. It's all about themselves. It should be about us, the people. And it wasn't about us, the people. It was about their agenda.”
Patrick Young, president of the Kankakee and Iroquois Building Trades, said, “It's going to generate revenue.
“Listen, not every student who goes to Manteno High School goes to college. Manufacturing has disappeared from Kankakee County. This reduces production. And I think it's a good start.'
Manteno Mayor Timothy Nugent said, “I hate to see the city divided. “Believe me, there are views on all sides and no one has a monopoly on the right views.”
Pritzker's spokesman said after the vote, “We look forward to continuing to work with the village to achieve our clean energy goals and further expand the state's manufacturing footprint.”
This comes just weeks after city leaders in Michigan kicked out their predecessors in a seismic vote over plans to bring a China-linked factory to their rural idyll, calling claims that the project is a 'done deal' as 'nonsense' have dismissed.
Last month, Green Charter Township's five incumbent board members were voted out in a recall election after supporting Chinese company Gotion's proposals for a $2.4 billion EV battery factory.
The city's new leaders wasted no time in asserting their authority, changing the locks on the local government building hours after their victory.
The popular response is being hailed as democracy in action after many of the area's 3,200 residents raised national security and environmental concerns about the project, located about 50 miles east of Lake Michigan.
But Gotion and ousted Green Charter city boss Jim Chapman have both suggested that efforts to fight back are futile.
China owns 383,935 hectares of US farmland as of December 2021, almost half of which is in Texas
The site is already under construction and Gotion, who “pledges allegiance” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), purchased the 270 hectares of land needed for the project in August.
Gotion recently sent a letter to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) saying they consider the plant “a done deal” and that they are moving forward on many facets of the project.
But Green Charter's new city head, Supervisor Jason Kruse, told DailyMail.com that Gotion “can be stopped 100 percent.”
“There are a lot of holes that can be pulled apart and we can dissect this project,” he said.
New councilor and physiotherapist Jeff Thorne, 64, described claims that the project was a “done deal” as “nonsense”.
'I was asked by a number of people on site: 'Don't you think that whatever you do, it's going to happen anyway?' he told DailyMail.com.
'I tell them 'no'. I wouldn't join this fight. I wouldn't be involved in this if I thought it was fruitless, if it was a done deal. There are many things that can be done.'
The planned plant would be built on the outskirts of Big Rapids, just miles from one of the state's National Guard bases.
Thorne, 64, who has lived in the area for almost 40 years, pointed out that the project had not yet passed a state environmental review.
Meanwhile, there are also calls from Republicans in Congress for the Committee on Foreign Investment to review national security concerns about Gotion's ties to the CCP and the location of the factory, 100 miles from a U.S. military camp where the Michigan National Guard troops have been training. Taiwan.
In ousting the city council from Green Charter, voters in the community also sent a message to President Joe Biden, who has touted EV factories and other clean energy projects as key to his economic growth plans.
China is a leader in the global supply chain for advanced batteries and other green technologies.
The communist country is now trying to take advantage of tax breaks for companies that produce renewable energy products in the US.
Gotion will receive $175 million in direct taxpayer funding to help build its battery factory in Michigan.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) has welcomed the investment, which she said would create 2,350 “good-paying jobs.”