Business Watch

The state is offering the automaker over $1 billion in funding as Ford plans a $3.5 billion investment in an electric vehicle battery factory about 20 miles east of Battle Creek.

Gotion Inc. plans to break ground this summer, but questions persist about its corporate ties to the Chinese Communist Party and whether the deal presents U.S. security risks. Gotion announced plans last year to build a $2.36 billion factory in Michigan.

BridgeDetroit asks developers who will benefit from a group of publicly-supported downtown projects.

Fallout from Silicon Valley Bank and other banks’ capital crises continues into the second week, raising still more questions about how far the impact will spread. So far, many businesses in Michigan appear unaffected, but the broader economy may not be so fortunate.

Lawmakers in charge of economic development will consider how economic development tools — including tax incentives — can better optimize a return on the state’s investment, committee chair Sen. Mallory McMorrow told Bridge.

A Michigan agency will convert the Chippewa ferry to electric power. The 61-year-old diesel engines will be replaced with electric motors.

The state’s public companies are faring well so far amid the up-and-down stock market, Bridge Michigan analysis shows. Among the big winners: Wolverine World Wide, Ally Financial and Penske Automotive.

Amid backlash over its handling of ice storm outages, Michigan’s largest utility’s public filings show it is trying to keep its returns stable. What that means for customers is higher rates even as they use less power.

The Detroit-based automaker is trying to cut $2 billion from its fixed costs with the voluntary plan.

A disconnect between business and policy goals and how Michigan voters view them emerged in the latest query by the Detroit Regional Chamber and polling partner The Glengariff Group Inc. of Lansing.

Michigan needs more electrical engineers and software developers for the companies it's attracting to make electric vehicles. With this new plan, Michigan is turning to colleges for them.

Automakers are racing to increase EV production, and Michigan is trying to get a big piece of it. Here is where the state — and the industry — stand today.

Ford sent Michigan a wake-up call back in 2021 by investing $11.4 billion in other states. On Monday, when the automaker announced a new EV battery factory near Marshall, the state flipped that earlier loss into a win — and it now has others to show for it, too.

Ford Motor Co. fleshed out details on Monday of a battery plant it will build with a Chinese partner on farmland near Marshall. The plant, to employ 2,500, is scheduled to open in 2026.

The multi-billion-dollar project with Chinese battery giant CATL is touted to produce 2,500 jobs and add to Michigan’s growing share of EV-related development. Virginia had previously rejected the project because of its ties to China.

A report shows drivers of electric vehicles have more difficulty finding a charging station, even as demand increases. Fast charging stations are highly concentrated in urban areas across lower Michigan and not rural areas.

Faced with steep competition and price drops of 75 percent, the state’s 600-plus recreational cannabis dispensaries and suppliers are seeking a sales edge beyond ubiquitous billboards. But who imagined early bird specials?

Mental health problems, especially suicides, are significantly higher among blue-collar workers compared with other occupations, according to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

State cable subscriptions fell a record 9 percent, as Michigan mirrors a national trend.

Plan for a new hospital, medical research facility, housing and commercial space is pitched as the latest “transformative” investment in Detroit.