The writer, a Los Angeles freelancer and former Detroit News business reporter, writes a blog, Starkman Approved.
By Eric Starkman
You can’t make this up — at least not in Michigan, where economic development under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer increasingly reads like satire.
Last year, when Bollinger Motors rolled out what it called its first “customer-ready” electric trucks, Whitmer couldn’t contain her enthusiasm.
“Bollinger Motors has once again decided to bet on Michigan as they lead the future of class-4 electric commercial trucks,” Whitmer declared in a state-issued victory lap. “From their headquarters in Oak Park, the company designs, builds, and tests their cutting-edge tech in America, and I am proud that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has worked with them to create even more good-paying jobs right here in our state.”
Good-paying jobs?
Gov. Whitmer (File photo)
According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Bollinger is facing dozens of worker complaints over unpaid wages and a fresh stack of lawsuits from suppliers demanding millions in past-due payments. Crain’s also reported Bollinger is in default on its state incentive agreement, which promised $3 million in taxpayer support in exchange for 237 new jobs.
The Gannett-owned Detroit Free Press reported on Bollinger’s troubles Wednesday but didn’t credit Crain’s for its enterprise reporting.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp., Whitmer’s preferred backdrop for so many EV photo ops, told Crain’s that as of Sept. 30 — brace yourself — Bollinger had zero qualified new jobs and just 50 remaining employees, MEDC spokeswoman Danielle Emerson told Crain’s.
Bollinger has laid off employees since then, though it’s unclear how many because company officials were too tongue-tied to respond to Crain’s.
Crain’s further revealed that Bollinger is under investigation by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, with 59 active claims for unpaid wages or benefits. Quite an achievement for a company Whitmer touted as a generator of “good-paying jobs.”
Bollinger has until May 4 to cure its incentive default or repay its state funding — money that may prove as recoverable as a crypto scam.
Shaky California EV Outfit
Bollinger’s troubles didn’t materialize out of thin air. The company was folded into Mullen Automotive, a California-based EV outfit that has been under intense financial pressure: it executed multiple reverse stock splits — at least eight in the past three years — in a bid to stay listed on Nasdaq and has faced formal delisting warnings. This shaky outfit is the same economic dynamo that Whitmer celebrated as Michigan’s next EV success story.
Former Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm
While Whitmer once envisioned Michigan as the EV manufacturing capital of America, the state has again become synonymous with EV failures — a feat Jennifer Granholm previously accomplished during her two terms as governor.
Most recently, Michigan demanded millions in incentives back from the Chinese battery company Gotion after its planned EV plant collapsed — a project Whitmer supported in 2022 and for which lawmakers approved nearly $175 million in incentives. The state is holding Gotion in default of $23.6 million for abandoning the project.
Danielle Emerson (Linkedin photo)
“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, we recognize the tremendous responsibility we have to the people we serve to make sure their hard-earned tax dollars are spent wisely and appropriately,” MEDC spokeswoman Danielle Emerson told the AP in a statement.
Emerson is fast distinguishing herself as the Debbie Downer of Economic Development.
EV Epicenter
Another Whitmer-backed EV implosion was GM’s large-scale battery factory near Lansing — pitched as making Michigan the “epicenter” of the EV industry. GM subsequently dumped its share of the venture after Michigan approved $186 million in subsidies.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Supreme Court in September revived a lawsuit aimed at derailing Ford’s massive Marshall battery project — the one for which the state bulldozed century-old trees and fertile farmland and awarded Ford $1.7 billion in subsidies – a giveaway an economic watchdog group deemed the biggest taxpayer rip-off in 2023.
And Whitmer’s crowning EV failure could still be GM’s Factory Zero in Detroit, for which the governor relieved the automaker of an earlier commitment to maintain at least 4,000 headquarters job in the city. Factory Zero builds high-priced electric trucks and SUVs — products for which demand is evaporating. Ford reportedly is considering scrapping its electric F-150 Lightning pickup, notably the best-selling electric truck in America.
GM claims that four floors in Dan Gilbert’s tax subsidized Hudson’s Detroit tower serves as its headquarters but won’t disclose how many employees work there. The Detroit Free Press, citing Zippia.com, calculated that GM could fit at most 1,200 employees into the space. GM once had more than 5,000 employees working in its former RenCen headquarters.
At this point, Michigan might consider changing its motto to “EV Failures R Us.”
Starkman can be reached at eric@starkmanapproved.com Anonymity assured and protected.
