By Timothy Aeppel and Ben Klayman
       MARSHALL, Mich., July 10 (Reuters) - Fred Chapman has a
message for Ford Motor Co, which is planning to build a
sprawling factory on the outskirts of this town to make
batteries for electric cars and which promises to employ 2,500
people.
    “We don’t need jobs,” he says.
    That’s a surprising view coming from Chapman, a 62-year-old
toolmaker who has spent his whole career in manufacturing and
watched, over the decades, as factory after factory in the
region shut down, including one in Marshall that made auto parts
where Chapman worked for nearly a decade. He now commutes to a
factory job in a nearby city.
    One of the most enduring ideas in the U.S. industrial
heartland is that a manufacturing renaissance is necessary to
finally shake the region's “Rust Belt” image. And there are some
signs that may be starting to happen.
    Construction spending on U.S. factories more than doubled
over the past year, hitting an annual rate of nearly $200
billion in May, according to the Census Bureau. 
    President Joe Biden has made a factory revival a centerpiece
of “Bidenomics,” and his administration has pushed through
legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act
that both injected direct funding and tax incentives for
manufacturing construction.
    Manufacturing now accounts for nearly 13 million U.S. jobs,
the highest since 2008. But that belies the fact that factory
work is increasingly a niche slice of the U.S. job market,
accounting for just over 8.3% of jobs as of June, the lowest
share ever.
    Many of the new factories now going up are huge, involving
multiple billion-dollar investments and creating thousands of
jobs. Developers call these “megasites” and there's a surge in
their construction across the U.S.    
             
             
 
    
    SIGN OF THE TIMES: 'STOP THE MEGASITE'
    Ford officials have run up against resistance to its plans,
however, in the latest iteration of a phenomenon known as NIMBY,
which stands for "Not In My Back Yard." 
    "It is a trend that we are seeing across the country," said
Gabby Bruno, Ford's director of economic development, "and one
that has really ramped up recently due to a number of these
megasites finally being developed, especially in the clean
energy space."
    Not everyone wants giant projects, even in places that would
seem ripe for a factory renaissance. Soon after Ford's project
was announced in February, worried residents jammed town
meetings, demanding more details on what was coming. Signs
popped up on roadsides that plead: “Stop the Megasite.”
    “This whole thing would be different if they had brought the
community into the discussion,” said Glenn Kowalske, a retired
engineer and one of the local leaders of the group fighting the
project.
    Opponents contend the project was rushed through final
approvals and could cause environmental damage. It’s being built
on former farm fields and woodlands next to a winding river just
outside the city. Some worry the new technology of
battery-building could lead to accidents, which might allow
lithium to leach into the groundwater.
    “I’m an engineer,” said Kowalske, “I know what lithium is -
it’s a very volatile element.”
    Ford's Bruno said the carmaker's plant design includes plans
for such safety features as double-walled tanks, dedicated
piping to collect industrial wastewater, and special fencing to
prevent soil run-off into the nearby Kalamazoo River.
    Critics also balk at the involvement of a Chinese company in
the project: Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd.
Ford has a license to use CATL's technology in the plant along
with services provided by the Chinese battery giant.
    Bruno countered CATL's involvement is "limited" and the
plant is 100% Ford's.
    The sheer size of the project is also a sore point. A parcel
of about 750 acres has been zoned for industrial development
since the 1960s, and over the years, other manufacturers have
looked at building a factory here. But as local economic
development officials worked with Ford and other prospective
investors, it became clear they needed a much bigger footprint.
They added two adjacent parcels that added about 1,100 acres.
    Only about 950 acres will be used by Ford, said Bruno, with
a portion of that set aside as a conservation easement along the
river. The rest has been earmarked by economic development
officials for suppliers and other developments.
    To be sure, residents often fight big developments that
threaten to alter the character of their communities. In some
cases, they win, as happened when New York City residents
rebuffed Amazon Inc’s efforts to build a second
headquarters in the city.
    
    COMMUNITY ROADBLOCKS
    The more common outcome is delays, as local opponents mount
legal challenges and throw up other roadblocks. In Marshall,
residents petitioned to hold a referendum on the project,
gathering over 800 signatures in a city of 6,800. That effort is
stalled, however, after the town rejected the petition.
Activists are now suing.
    James Durian, CEO of the Marshall Area Economic Development
Alliance, which has spearheaded the development, said he
understands that some residents were startled by the project's
size and the speed at which it came together. But he contends
that was necessary to land Ford.
    Durian said he understands the concerns about the Chinese
involvement in the project. The U.S. has an adversarial
relationship with China, but he said it has gotten "a little
weird and paranoid."
    Sue Damron, owner of Schuler’s Restaurant and Pub in
downtown Marshall, supports the project. She believes factory
workers will move to Marshall to work for Ford. “The people
coming to work for Ford have spouses and children,” she said.
“They will give me an employee base to add to my small
business.”
    But Chapman, the toolmaker, remains skeptical. His house
sits across the street from the Ford site, known as BlueOval
Battery Park, and he’s been approached about selling his house
to the developers. But he doesn’t want to move.
    Meanwhile, he sees a looming labor problem. The jobless rate
in surrounding Calhoun County is 4.6% - above the national
jobless rate of 3.6% - but still low by historical standards. He
notes that the factory he works at, in nearby Battle Creek, has
struggled to find skilled workers.
    “I’m in the industry. I see it,” he said, adding that his
company has even recruited workers from Mexico to fill
positions. “It’s just weird, there’s not a supply of workers.”

    
 (Reporting by Timothy Aeppel in New York and Ben Klayman in
Marshall, Michigan; Editing by Dan Burns and Nick Zieminski)