Tesla & Elon Musk Received Pitches From Texas, Nevada, Georgia, Utah, Oklahoma and Colorado To Setup Manufacturing

In recent days, we can observe the struggle between Tesla and Alameda County, which, despite the rather favorable situation with Covid-19 and the statement of the governor of California, did not allow the automaker to reopen.

At the moment, all automakers in the U.S. are already open and have begun to work, despite the fact that the situation with Covid-19 in the states and counties where they are located is more complicated than in California. Considering that the decisions of Alameda County were doubtful, Tesla filed a lawsuit and, at the moment, is considering the possibility of transferring its business to a state that will not be unfair to the car manufacturer.

This struggle has attracted the attention of those who are looking for sites for new factories and corporate offices, as well as economic development officials who seek to increase the number of jobs in their states.

Officials from such states as Texas, Nevada, Georgia, Utah, Oklahoma and Colorado have pitched Musk about considering their state. Tesla at its factory provides 10,000 jobs and tens of thousands of people in California are employed thanks to the company.

Source: Tesmanian

“That county has created an opening for others to come in and recruit,” said Mark Williams, president of South Carolina site selection firm Strategic Development Group. “We need to get an idea of, if we have a problem do they have our back? ‘Our back’ could mean helping when a tornado comes through or dealing with some kind of labor issue.” 

Officials in Tennessee, where Nissan, Volkswagen AG, and General Motors Co are located, cited the state’s long history in the sector.

“Would Tennessee be interested in another automaker coming to our state? Absolutely, ”Bob Rolfe, the state commissioner in charge of economic development, said in a telephone interview with Reuters.

Also in February, Mr. Musk teased the idea of ​​a Cybertruck factory in Texas when he tweeted “Giga Texas?”. According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the Governor of Texas confirmed that Gov. Abbott and Mr. Musk discussed Tesla's business in the state over this weekend. "I've had the opportunity to talk to Elon Musk and he's genuinely interested in Texas and genuinely frustrated with California," said the Governor of Texas. "We've just got to wait and see how things play out."

Tesla's possible move to Texas was openly welcomed by Gov. Abbott and Hidalgo County Judge Richard F. Cortez. In fact, Judge Cortez penned a letter directly to Mr. Musk enumerating the opportunities Tesla would have if it moved to Hidalgo County in Texas.

"We have a community of manufacturing facilities called maquiladoras that operate on both sides of the US-Mexico border, based in Hidalgo County, which caters to automobile manufacturing operations in Monterrey, Mexico - a short two hours away and contributed to Mexico now being the fourth largest automotive exporter in the world, "wrote Judge Cortez in his letter to Mr. Musk.

Mike Kazmierski, CEO of the Economic Development Authority in Western Nevada, said he is interested in the final consequences in California. He previously helped locate the Tesla’s battery plant near Reno.

Moving Tesla from California would be very detrimental to state and local tax revenues. But, also this will be more detrimental to the reputation of the state and Alameda County as a place for business. Given the tremendous attention this case has received, these concerns are very real.

“In the future, rest assured that Tesla’s growth will be taking place in states such as Nevada, Texas and elsewhere,” CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson told MarketWatch.

Tesla has many options in order to transfer its business to any state where, no doubt, they will be very happy. And it should be recognized that this is difficult to blame the automaker, who was faced with an unjust attitude of local authorities.

Featured image: Tesla