Rivian, the manufacturer of electric pickups, SUV’s, and cargo vans unveiled its newest vehicle last week, a smaller and lower priced SUV aimed at the mass market of car shoppers. It was the product that was planned to be built at Rivian’s factory east of Atlanta. The company has instead decided to put those plans on hold, and get the R2 into production faster by utilizing its existing factory in Illinois.
Opponents of the plant and those skeptical of electric cars in general took the announcement as a victory. The company and the state have both released statements saying they remain committed to the project. In the balance lies a few thousand acres of graded land and the potential for thousands of high paying manufacturing jobs.
It’s important to note that the state is not on the hook for most of the incentives offered to Rivian in a package worth up to $1.5 billion if the plant is completed and up to 7,500 jobs created by 2030 and maintained for 20 years. The company still has time to reach this goal, and also revealed a future even smaller vehicle – the R3 – demonstrating continued growth of their product portfolio and eventual need for additional manufacturing capacity.
The majority of incentives Georgia offers to lure new employers generally fall into three categories. Property taxes are reduced on the buildings and equipment in lieu of a guaranteed annual payment to local governments that exceed the taxes that would have been paid had the land remained vacant. Infrastructure improvements are made to allow ingress/egress of the site for trucks and/or rail access, along with utility improvements as necessary. For the largest of projects, the state usually offers a dedicated job training center, similar to what a technical college would offer, in order to train workers with the special skills needed to work in the proposed facility.
Thus, should Rivian not decide to proceed under the current agreement, the state is out…
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