GEORGIA SETS $1.5B IN AID FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE MAKER RIVIAN

The state of Georgia and local governments will give Rivian Automotive $1.5 billion of incentives to built a 7,500-job, $5 billion electric vehicle plant east of Atlanta, according to documents the company and state signed this week.

That would be, by far, the largest incentive package Georgia has ever offered to a company and would be the 15th largest incentive package any American state has ever given a private entity according to Good Jobs First, a group critical of subsidies to private companies.

Georgia Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson says the size of the package reflects the size of the largest single industrial announcement in Georgia history, including a pledge that the company will reach the full investment and job targets by the end of 2028, with jobs paying an average of $56,000 a year, plus benefits.

“It’s absolutely appropriate because they’re creating more jobs,” Wilson said.