The plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Mecosta County has become a topic of national debate around the influence of the Chinese government in companies working in the United States.
Gotion Inc. was founded as a Chinese company, but an offshoot of the main company, Gotion North America, is the organization behind the massive EV battery plant planned just outside Big Rapids.
The company has met great backlash from people in the community and beyond, including a prominent political figure leading the charge.
“The truth has not been out there yet, what we see is a lot of fabrication,” said Rick Thelan, Vice President of Gotion North America.
In the early days of the plans to build a massive EV battery plant and to bring in 2,500 jobs to the area, there was great support and fanfare. As time has passed, questions about the company and their roots have popped up, and most went unanswered.
“We’ve been a little lacking in that, and I’ll admit that’s our fault, but we’re going to fix that problem right now,” said Thelan. “Now that we are far enough down the due diligence path, we can be a little more forthcoming.”
The questions have hit the national stage, thanks mostly to former republican gubernatorial nominee, Tudor Dixon.
Dixon and her team have opposed the plan for Gotion from the beginning and recently found an allegiance from the parent company Gotion Inc. and the Chinese Communist Party in their by-laws.
“There’s been quite a bit of secrecy around Gotion, they also had non-disclosure agreements, but we have now seen that in their company by-laws they are mandating allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Dixon.
This has sparked outrage and push back from people such as community members, right up to Congressional members. Thelan has pushed back saying the board is made up of citizens from the United States, Germany and China and the by-laws to Gotion Inc. do not carry over to Gotion North America.
“There is no CCP corporate organization influence. No person on the leadership team is a CCP member. There is no CCP organization influence to the North American operation,” said Thelan.
The state of Michigan says the proper due diligence has been done. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation says their background checks are done with three pillars, a financial due diligence, a legal due diligence and a cultural fit.
“A business credibility or company credibility basis. On what the company’s business practices have been and if they are eligible for our tools.” said Josh Hundt, MEDC Chief Projects Officer. “And so all of our processes are based on significant due diligence that require public board meetings and approvals.”
“It really does look like there’s the opportunity for the Chinese to just take advantage of spying in the United States,” said Dixon. “When they’ve already made it clear that they would gladly come onto the United States land and take over our country.”
Rumors of bringing hundreds of Chinese nationals to Mecosta County to work in the plant and take these jobs are unfounded, according to Thelan.
“We will bring our ‘centers of expertise’ experts, and help set up the equipment and the process,” said Thelan. “That count will be somewhere between 20 and 50 people.”
The total number of jobs created is important because the state is offering $715 million in various tax relief and benefits for Gotion to create that investment. The state says the money promised, is only dispersed once they show the success.
“There are performance milestones that have to be met, typically around job creation and investment, that require the company to not only say they will create those jobs and invest but meet those expectations,” said Hundt.
“We have to hold our American companies accountable and say you can partner with a foreign entity. It has to be friendly,” said Dixon. “You cannot have an adversary come on our land, who has made it clear that their ultimate goal is world domination.”
The townships involved in the plans have held several meetings for the community to voice these concerns, but the biggest, most informational meeting will be Wednesday, April 5. It will be held virtually and you can join the meeting here.
“Am I looking forward to a flash mob? No,” said Thelan. “But am I looking forward to being transparent and understand peoples’ concerns and voice our answers? Absolutely.”
This plant is very far down the road but it’s not a done deal. Gotion officially hasn’t purchased the land yet.
“If we can do that, it’s great,” said Thelan. “If they don’t want it, we will go to another site.”
