Ford Motor Company

The Spark

When Ford Motor Company committed to building a mega campus in Stanton, Tennessee, it brought a once-in-a-generation economic opportunity to rural West Tennessee. But it also brought a question: how do you prepare a region for thousands of new jobs when the basic infrastructure that working families depend on does not exist? Ford did something unusual for a company of its size. Rather than announce what the community needed, it asked. Marianne Dunavant, a West Tennessee native hired to lead Ford’s community relations effort in Tennessee, and her team, led by Gabby Bruno, Ford’s Director of Community Relations, created an Equitable Growth Advisory Council made up of residents, community leaders, and elected officials from Haywood, Fayette, and Tipton counties. The team partnered with the University of Tennessee Martin to conduct community listening sessions, and Dunavant went door to door with surveys. One need rose to the top of the list: child care.

The Solution

Ford partnered with the YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South to build and operate the YMCA Child Development Center at BlueOval City. The 15,500-square-foot facility sits on 5 acres of land donated by the Wall family, located off Highway 222 approximately one mile from the plant. It will serve roughly 150 children ages six weeks through five years, with before- and after-school care and meals for school-age children during breaks. Dave Bratcher, the Y’s lead on the project, points out that hours are designed around the shift schedules of plant workers, as well as those of TCAT students and community members. He’s clear that while the Y’s standard operating hours run 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., if Ford ends up running two twelve-hour shifts, the center will adjust to match.

The funding model is a public-private partnership that brings together nearly $8 million from multiple sources. Tennessee DHS provided $2 million for construction. Tennessee ECD contributed $1.7 million for a multipurpose gymnasium through a Connected Community Facilities grant. Ford’s Tennessee plant committed $1 million to offset child care costs for employees and cover water and wastewater expenses. BlueOvalSK (now SK On Tennessee) invested $1 million for on-site programming. Universal Logistics Holdings provided $1 million for construction. Ford Community Relations, Ford Philanthropy, and Ford Manufacturing contributed an additional $1.3 million combined for construction, programming, and regional food distribution. No single partner carries the full load.

The child care center is part of Ford’s broader Good Neighbor Plan, an investment in workforce readiness and community development across West Tennessee. Beyond the YMCA center, Ford has funded other investments in early childhood care and education, from pre-K expansion in Haywood County schools to new playground equipment at five elementary schools, to the early grades reading success programs in Boys and Girls Clubs that are already showing measurable gains in student reading levels. And these represent a fraction of the $32+ million (and growing) that Ford has invested in the local community and its people. As Dunavant describes it: Ford is proud to stand alongside these amazing organizations that have been doing this work in the community and to invest in them so they can take it to the next level.

The Results

The YMCA Child Development Center broke ground in November 2025 and is expected to open in 2026, so enrollment data is not yet available. But the commitment itself has already reshaped the conversation about what it means for a major employer to enter a rural community. Ford’s approach, listening first, partnering with established local and regional organizations, and investing across the full spectrum of child development from birth through workforce readiness, is being watched by economic development leaders statewide.

Ermal Faulkner, Ford’s site director for BlueOval City at the time, puts the case in plain workforce terms: “Access to high-quality affordable childcare is one of the most important components in workforce development.” For a region where child care access was already challenging before the pandemic and has only gotten harder since, the YMCA center represents the first major new child care capacity in years. And it will serve not just Ford employees but the broader community, reinforcing Dunavant’s core message: this is not just a Ford thing. This is a regional investment, and Ford is coming to the table to be part of the solution.