Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spoke against the upcoming Gotion factory at Majestic Friesians Horse Farm north of campus.
“Independence from Communist China” is high on Ramaswamy’s list of policy commitments. Seated in lawn chairs, Thursday’s audience responded well to his calls for American exceptionalism.
Many gasped as the politician read a Chinese Communist Party pledge that employees allegedly recite within Gotion North America’s parent company, Gotion Inc.
“Now, a company that recites that bastardized pledge of allegiance I read you [is] getting ready to build a taxpayer-subsidized battery plant across the street right over there,” Ramaswamy said. “That’s why we’re not going to let it happen. The reality is you got to know how deep this cancer runs.”
Nearly one year after the factory’s initial announcement, the project and its surrounding rhetoric have drawn in student advocates.
Education sophomore Graham Wolinski attended the event in opposition to Ramaswamy’s policies. He reports being instructed to stay 100 feet from the stage after satirically shouting, “Way to go, Communism” while Ramaswamy quoted the CCP.
Wolinski accused Ramaswamy of having the same “violence” as former president Donald Trump. He also believes that even if the location of the Gotion project is problematic, the factory is necessary for both the town and the state.
“We need the jobs,” Wolinski said. “With Michigan being an automotive state and Gotion making batteries, [General Motors] is trying to switch to fully electric cars by 2035. We’re going to need a battery plant. This will bring a lot of money into Big Rapids.”
Computer information technology senior Sam Skene found himself particularly concerned with “xenophobic and racist attacks against Chinese businesses.”
Skene co-founded the FSU Students Coalition for Jobs in support of the employment opportunities Gotion plans to bring to Big Rapids.
“In the last decade or so, we’ve lost a little bit over 2,000 jobs in the area. Now people are commuting to Grand Rapids and stuff like that to get jobs,” Skene said. “This is going to bring 2,300 high-paying jobs to the area.”
Skene also noted Mecosta County’s poverty rate, which is nearly 1.4 times the state average according to Census Reporter.
Jake Loutzenhiser, a construction management student and president of FSU College Republicans, attended Thursday’s event with other members of his organization.
The College Republicans attended with concerns for Gotion’s environmental impact.
“[People say,] ‘We need to get rid of all the general emission cars. We need to build EVs’… then when it comes to this beautiful landscape we have here, ‘Oh, no, it’s fine. We’ll just put a giant battery plant that’s going to end up poisoning everything around here,’” Loutzenhiser said.
Loutzenhiser’s comment echoed Ramaswamy’s disregard for environmental concerns surrounding fossil fuels, consistently calling the climate “agenda” a “hoax.”
The event was held on farmland six miles from Ferris’ campus. MLive reports that 260 of the acres of land purchased for the factory are industrial. The remaining 10 acres were zoned industrial for 20 years before shifting to agricultural land. The Gotion project would see the land re-zoned for industrial use.
The new Mecosta Environmental and Security Alliance organized Thursday’s event after sending a notice of intent to sue Gotion Inc. over concerns regarding the Endangered Species Act.
“We have, in the letter, brought an Endangered Species Act claim, technically called a Section 9 claim, which allows citizen suits against the government or private parties for anyone who, quote, ‘takes an endangered species,’” MESA’s attorney Robby Dube said in WOOD-TV. “Taking an endangered species can include killing them, harming them, disturbing them, messing with their habitat or their food sources.”
MESA was formed in response to the Gotion project. According to its website, MESA opposes “any attempt to bring a business into our community that threatens harm to our environment, or has ties to foreign governments who threaten harm to America.”
University President Bill Pink spoke on how to properly navigate the informational landscape of the project, as it has become a local hot-button issue.
“This boils down to, who do you listen to?” Pink said. “The conversations that I’ve had with and have heard from [Gotion], they have a strong focus on making sure that their carbon footprint and environmental footprint is paid close attention to. If you don’t believe them, then you’re not going to go for that. If you believe them, you are at ease.”
Pink is saddened by the division sown in the Big Rapids community by the Gotion project. With Ferris as a financial partner in the project, he sees it as “no different” than any other company that the university has worked with.
“We will do our due levels of diligence to ensure that we’re doing all we can with any type of threat,” Pink said. “That, I feel, is indicative of what we do here at Ferris State. We’ll continue to do all we can to protect that. But quite frankly, from a national security perspective. I’m not so sure I am in full agreement that it is of a heightened concern.”
Citing Ferris’ “awesome” automotive program, Pink sees the Gotion project as one way for future students and alumni to find decent-paying jobs without leaving the area after graduation.