At least 16 states gave away deals worth $50 million or more
Last year, we added 23 new megadeals across 16 states to Subsidy Tracker, our database that captures state and local economic development incentives from across the country. That means companies got at least $50 million of the public’s money for a single project.
Among our findings:
- Ford got the biggest deal in Michigan — $1.7 billion for its new electric vehicle plant in Marshall.
- Electric vehicle and electric vehicle battery production was the most heavily subsidized industry in 2023, just as it was in 2022,with automakers Ford, General Motors, and Volkswagen taking the biggest packages.
- 16 states committed $10.7 billion of the public’s money to companies including Amazon (for five new data centers in Oregon), Tesla (to expand its previously subsidized Nevada facility) and Vornado Realty Trust (whose top executives just got $6.4 million in holiday bonuses).
- The average per-job subsidy was $262,800.
And while our list is long, it’s not exhaustive, in part due to our small staff’s ability to keep up on the (too) many deals, as well as the secretive nature of (too) many of them. We’ll be updating the totals as the year goes along.
Read the full piece and hear our predictions for the industries likely to seek the biggest handouts in 2024. Let’s make sure if they get them, workers and their families are assured a high quality of life from the resulting jobs.