By: Diane Benjamin
I sent a FOIA request to the State of Illinois on February 6th for information on the Rivian incentives. I finally received it today.
Rivian received NO money up front, the story is not going to be repeated in Illinois that happened in other states.
The entire deal is based on the number of full-time employees Rivian hires and the investments Rivian makes. Full-time employees are those working over 35 hours a week which is ironic since the Governor wants State employees to work 40 hours instead of 37 before receiving overtime.
By December 31, 2018, Rivian must employ 35 people.
By December 31, 2021, Rivian must employ another 465 people.
By December 31, 2024, Rivian must employ yet another 500 for a total of 1000.
They will receive income tax credits for reaching these benchmarks. It looks like they have the same deal Mitsubishi did – they keep the income tax withheld from employees. I’m not a lawyer, but that’s what it looks like to me. The term of the agreement is 15 years.
Below are the documents I received. The 2nd one has all the details. The State redacted the investment Rivian has to make as part of the deal. Also redacted was the name of the person who signed the agreement for the State. That makes having someone to blame more difficult is the deal blows up. Very convenient.
Rivian Incentive Letter Redacted-Benjamin-1
Seven years is a long time to wait for job replacement lost from the closure of Mitsubishi. Normal also has to provide security and property maintenance at the plant. Wonder if that expense would fall under the Metro Zone agreement.
Normal was silly but enough to do that one all on their own!
I think Rivian is going to have a difficult start up and staying competitive. The big automakers have asked Trump to change the EPA requirements. In Alaska one of the largest oil reserves has been discovered. Maybe Rivian is counting on the younger generation buying electric cars, who knows. Maybe if gasoline was $5 a gallon more would consider electric but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.