Nissan Brings Leaf EV Production To Tennessee

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

Senator Corker, rest easy: the imports have your back. Tennessee-based Saturn may be shutting down, but Nissan is bringing the manufacture of their electric car, the Leaf, to Smyrna, Tennessee. Nissan made the announcement today as Rutherford County commission member voted to approve the funds required for the project. Under the scheme, Nissan will get $2.5 billion for the project plus a tax holiday of 20 to 40 years. In return, Smyrna will receive, up to, 1300 full time production jobs. That works out to be about $1.92 million per job. Not to mention a drop in tax revenue for the state. Let’s hope this Leaf is attached to an evergreen project and not a deciduous one.

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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  • Ekay Ekay on Nov 13, 2009

    Doesn't this mean more than just Nissan jobs? Suppliers, temp labor, construction & support staff should result in alot more than 1300 jobs...Any of the B&B know how many jobs support each autoworker?...I'd think those jobs lift homes prices, tax revenues & have a generally positive effect.

  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Nov 14, 2009

    I do like the Leaf (but not its projected price), and hope it succeeds. I don't like the corporate welfare. Didn't Michigan just sign up for a similar sellout? Seems like a high price to attract 1300 jobs. Whatever happened to profitably paying your way through life in the business world? TN would have paid a lot less to bring in 10 companies with 130 jobs each.

  • Shaker Shaker on Nov 14, 2009

    The 1300 and their families will buy homes, eat, drive and shop for stuff. In addition to that, suppliers, shippers, etc. Office supplies, equipment, furniture, etc. Not all of that stuff will come from Japan - the [for once, positive] ripple effect in action. Still, the tax breaks are a burden that will be borne by the residents and the future, to some extent - so real estate and income taxes will likely rise at some point. But (for the short term) things are rosy.

  • Ritchie628 Ritchie628 on Nov 14, 2009

    I have an idea why don't we give each of those 1300 people the $1.92 million? That's more money than they're ever gonna see from those jobs. Oh, I forgot, when you give money to middle class people its's called socialism. When you give it to corporations it's called capitalism. Capitalism>Socialism, right?

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