Trumps push to scrap loans wont hurt companys plans for old Lordstown GM plant

Columbus Dispatch

Despite Democratic outcry at the Trump administration’s planned elimination of a federal loan program for electric vehicles, plans to convert the former Lordstown GM plant to manufacturing electric trucks will proceed, company officials said Friday.

The Lordstown electric truck manufacturer planning its electric vehicle market debut said Friday its plans to convert the former General Motors plant will proceed with or without the loan.

As part of his federal budget proposal this week, Trump announced his plans to kill the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program, a federal initiative to provide funding to companies who want to to build electric vehicles.

Lordstown Motors is considering pursuing a $200 million loan from the loan program, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Democrats quickly seized on the president’s move, saying it threatened the beleaguered area.

The Ohio Democratic Party issued a press release entitled, “TRUMP BUDGET SCREWS OVER LORDSTOWN.” The party accused Trump of “trying to kill a loan program that could save at least some of the jobs that were lost when the plant closed.”

Youngstown-area Congressman Tim Ryan said, “Instead of using the power of the White House to help Lordstown Motors get up and running, President Trump announced his intention on Monday to kill the very loan program that Lordstown Motors has said is critical to their business.” He pledged to fight the plan.

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown called Trump’s budget “yet another betrayal of working families in Ohio,” and noted the proposed cancellation of the loan program.

But Lordstown Motors spokeman Ryan Hallett said the company’s prospects, however, will not be affected by whether or not the company pursues or receives the loan.

“We will factor this new information into our decision making process, but our business model stands on its own without it,” he said.

Hallett said the company is in discussions with elected officials about whether the ATVM loan is an option, especially considering the tenuous nature of the program.

Last year, General Motors announced it was shuttering the Lordstown Chevy Cruze plant and leaving 1,500 Mahoning Valley residents without a job. Since then, Lordstown Motors, an upstart electric vehicle manufacturer has taken over the plant and is planning to launch a line of electric work trucks and hire as many as 500 people.

Trump criticized the GM decision to close the Cruze plant, and praised Lordstown Motors for its initiative.

Ohio Sen. Sean O’Brien, a Warren-area Democrat, said the proposed elimination of the loan program will not be the deciding factor at Lordstown, but added that the loan would be “a shot in the arm.”

Ohio Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, said that after conversations with Ryan, he was confident the program would get put back on the budget. He added that he had spoken with Trump adviser Jared Kushner about the situation at Lordstown and said the president’s son-in-law appeared “sympathetic” to the cause in the Mahoning valley.

The ATVM loan program began under the Obama administration. To date, it has loaned $5.9 billion to Ford Motor Co. to upgrade its factories to build efficient vehicles, while Tesla got $465 million to upgrade its California plant.

Cole Behrens is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps Statehouse News Bureau.

Email: cbehrens@dispatch.com

Twitter: @colebehr_report