MANTENO, Ill. -- On a recent weekday afternoon, Kevin Fregeau sat at the bar inside the Back Forty Saloon on Main Street, pondering what’s ahead as plans move forward on the state’s largest-ever investment in electric vehicle battery production, a plant that could create 2,600 jobs in the village.
Will there be enough housing for all those workers in a town of about 9,000 people, 40 miles south of Chicago? Would the area be equipped to safely handle the hazardous materials required for lithium battery production?
And then he raised one more question: What about the plant’s ownership ties to China?
“If you’re letting a hostile nation into your country purchasing your soil, that’s asinine,” said Fregeau, 59, who lives just outside town.
Since Gov. J.B. Pritzker last month trumpeted his success in luring Gotion to build a $2 billion plant in Manteno with $536 million in state incentives, along with the potential for federal incentives, many residents have expressed anger over the lack of information they’ve been given.
That has provided an opening for far-right Republicans, struggling for relevancy in a blue state, to fill the void by using the specter of communist infiltration fueled by state tax dollars to stoke fears about the project. Those fears have gained traction among some residents.
“I really feel that all of you that think it is OK to have a Communist Chinese company here did not do your homework,” Manteno resident Amelia Cahill said at a recent village board meeting. “You are willing to jeopardize the health of everybody in Manteno and also surrounding areas.”
Gotion Inc. is a Fremont, California-based subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech of China, which is 30% owned by Germany’s Volkswagen. Critics have cited the corporate bylaws of the parent firm that require the company to “carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution” of the Chinese Communist Party. Such language is standard for Chinese corporations under the laws of their country.
Supporters of the project, to be located on a 150-acre abandoned Kmart warehouse distribution site, dismiss such fears by noting long-standing Chinese investments in the U.S. They point to the prospect of thousands of jobs paying an average of $55,000 a year and its potential to spur local economic development, as well as the plant’s impact on efforts to secure Illinois’ future as a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing with domestically sourced batteries.
“It stokes at a lot of people’s fears. It’s got the Chinese factor. It’s got the factor of chemicals. If you want to get people (rounded) up, you scare them. And I think that’s what’s been done,” Manteno Mayor Timothy Nugent, a supporter of the project, said in an interview.
“What we should be concerned about is the way that polarized politics, with its baseless assertions and accusations, is hijacking education, science and medicine, and now economic innovation and resilience in our nation,” Nugent said.
Nugent said he thinks fears about the plant are being stoked by people who “don’t believe in the potential change from gas engines to electric vehicles.
“They don’t believe that it’s necessary. They don’t believe in climate change. They don’t believe in all these different things.”
Earlier this month, dozens of people gathered outside of Manteno’s village hall during a pep-rally-like news conference hosted by the Illinois Freedom Caucus, a contingent of the most conservative Republican lawmakers in the Illinois House, to oppose the Gotion project.
The crowd held signs that read “Choose Manteno, No Go On Gotion,” “Gotion, go Home!” “No CCP” (short for Chinese Communist Party), “History Lesson One: China is U.S.A. Foe ... No Gotion in Manteno or U.S.A!” and “American Traitor” with a crossed-out picture of Pritzker’s face.
The caucus members all live within about two and a half hours from Manteno and represent ruby red districts in central or southeastern Illinois.
“Doing business with the CCP is basically like doing business with the Unabomber,” state Rep. Blaine Wilhour, of Beecher City, about 175 miles south of Manteno, told the crowd.
“On steroids,” someone in the audience quipped.
State Rep. Chris Miller of Hindsboro, who heads the caucus, tried to joke that a Republican House member from the Manteno area, state Rep. Jackie Haas, was not at the rally because she was on vacation. “She’s in China,” Miller said, only to be admonished by state Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur who said “That’s not fair” and noted Haas was on a “family vacation.”
Haas, who is not a member of the Freedom Caucus, has not expressed opposition to the Gotion project. But in a statement, the Republican from Bourbonnais sought to appease both sides of the issue.
“I support economic development in our region and appreciate the positive impact of thousands of new jobs,” Haas said. “With the tools given to the governor to draw new business to Illinois, I urge a focus on American-owned companies and a deeper commitment to transparency so residents can have the opportunity to give meaningful feedback on the tax incentives offered, public safety planning and stakeholders involved.”
A few days before the news conference, House Republican Leader Tony McCombie said she hoped government officials would be transparent with constituents about any questions or concerns, while also suggesting that the Freedom Caucus shouldn’t be poking its nose into Manteno’s business.
“The Illinois Freedom Caucus, I wish they would stay in their own districts, but they’re going to do what they’re going to do,” said McCombie, of Savanna.
The controversy surrounding the plant in Manteno echoes one that ensued following Gotion’s earlier announced plans for a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Big Rapids, Michigan, about 50 miles north of Grand Rapids. The proposed factory has gained national political attention, with GOP presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy attending a rally held in opposition.
Four Republican Michigan members of Congress joined with Illinois Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of downstate Murphysboro and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida last month in asking U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to ask that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) conduct “a rigorous review” of Gotion’s plans in Michigan and Illinois.
“President Biden has identified electric vehicles and the lithium batteries that power them as critical parts of America’s transportation infrastructure. It is not in the interest of the United States to allow the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to control facilities estimated to produce thousands of those batteries, much less to provide it with hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded subsidies to do so,” the letter said.
“We respectfully request you conduct an immediate CFIUS review, and if necessary, order the divestment of Gotion, Inc. by (Gotion) High-Tech and its CCP owners,” it said.
In an emailed response, Treasury spokesperson Ashley Schapitl, credited President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act with increasing energy security by “encouraging investments in America and building secure supply chains rather than outsourcing to places like China.”
“By building in America with American workers, we are putting the United States and U.S. automakers in a position to lead the clean energy transition,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to assess and respond to any national security concerns associated with both international and domestic supply chains.”
In September of last year, Biden issued an executive order that provided a higher level of direction for the CFIUS review process, which is now to include potential consequences for national security, including those done for investments involving advanced energy technology. The committee has existed since 1975 to review foreign investments in the U.S.
Gotion submitted its plans for the Michigan plant for CFIUS review, but the committee determined that the land purchase was not a “covered transaction” and outside the panel’s jurisdiction. That gave Gotion a go-ahead on the project and was followed by the congressmen’s letter to Yellen asking that both the Michigan and Illinois plants be subject to review.
The Pritzker administration said Gotion has already been working in the United States, starting with a Silicon Valley research and development center in 2014 under President Barack Obama and opening a Cleveland-area facility in 2018 under President Donald Trump.
“Republicans were silent as these investments were made in the U.S. under the prior administrations. Now, after major investments were announced in Michigan and Illinois creating thousands of jobs, Republicans have manufactured a crisis rooted in xenophobia to rile up their base,” Pritzker spokesperson Alex Gough said.
Gotion representatives declined to comment to the Tribune about the Illinois project. But according to MLive, a Michigan media outlet, during an online-only discussion about the Michigan project in April, Gotion’s vice president for North American operations, Chuck Thelen, sought to dispel the China concerns as “a big fear sandwich,” and said he heard nothing about political ideology in his nearly four years with the company.
Thelen acknowledged that U.S.-based “Gotion Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech,” but said, “There is no communist plot within Gotion to make Big Rapids a center to spread communism.”
But community concerns about the project in Manteno extend beyond Gotion’s Chinese roots.
Outside a physical therapy office along the quaint commercial strip of Main Street, Nancy Kay said she was conflicted about the project, noting both its potential payoffs as well as some uncertainties.
“I mean, personally, I would hope that it would bring business and a boost to the economy, but on the other hand I live way too close to it,” Kay said. ”I’m worried about what precautions they have in place in case of fire or disaster, and I’m really worried about the fact that it is very close to a quarry that does some pretty significant blasting.”
Down the street, Kecia Adamski, said she was encouraged about how officials involved in the project indicated the average annual wage for a job at Gotion could be roughly $55,000. But she had environmental concerns about the lithium components of Gotion’s batteries, especially if they were to catch fire.
“What kind of safety things are they going to put in for that?” Adamski asked.
At a recent village board meeting, a couple of dozen people packed a limited-seating room, which forced more than 60 other spectators to move to an adjacent overflow room to watch on a TV screen.
Nugent, Manteno’s mayor, began the meeting by reading a news release issued by his office, indicating that real estate taxes on the Gotion site would increase by 105% over the current level, ultimately generating more real estate taxes than any other property in Kankakee County.
But he drew sarcastic laughter and booing from the crowd when he said the plant would be situated about 10 miles from the Kankakee River and poses “no threat of polluting that waterway.”
The Pritzker administration said the state already has “robust” environmental regulations for industrial manufacturers and Gotion’s plant would be required to obtain appropriate permits from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency before it’s constructed.
“IEPA has already been in discussions with the Gotion team regarding environmental permitting requirements in Illinois and will continue to work with them to ensure the facility meets all applicable state and federal air, land and water standards,” Gough said.
Scott O’Brien, chief of the Manteno Community Fire Protection District, said he and a code enforcement officer plan to visit a Gotion plant in Germany in the next few weeks to collect information that could be useful for fire safety purposes.
He said it’s premature to say how the Gotion plant would affect fire operations, though his department plans to upgrade hazardous materials training for its firefighters.
He also noted that firefighters in the area already have to be prepared for hazmat incidents on local train tracks or highways, among other places.
“Although (Gotion) has risks and hazards, so do many of our locations in our community today,” O’Brien said. “I’m not trying to minimize it, but we try to mitigate our hazards and try to identify them.”
Mark Denzler, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and a supporter of the Manteno project, gave credit to the Pritzker administration for crafting an incentive package based on Gotion hitting certain employment and production goals.
“The governor’s office and Department of Commerce attorneys have done a very good job about creating a pretty hard agreement that has goals and then incentives are released as goals are hit. And there are very strong clawback provisions in the event that they don’t meet a goal,” he said.
In Michigan, Gotion has pledged to give priority for jobs to area residents for the first two weeks of hiring, and to try to limit congestion on surrounding roads by constructing an on-site staging area for trucks and trailers.
In addition, all emergency services to the facility are to be paid for by Gotion for the next 30 years and Gotion will help pay the township’s legal fees surrounding the startup of the project. The company also has committed to a “dark-sky design” for the plant to limit light pollution, and also to recycling raw materials and manufacturing byproduct to prevent environmental impacts.
The company’s Michigan agreement also has one other important plank: It prohibits activity that encourages any political philosophy among its employees or the community.
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Rick Pearson reported from Chicago.
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