Inside Mundy Township, the question that eventually boiled over was simple: was a massive factory coming—and why were residents being kept in the dark. In March 2023, Mark Rood attended a Mundy Township Board of Trustees meeting to ask about rumors of a large project, an AP report said, and recalled that “Everybody kind of looked at each other” and that officials told him, “We can’t talk about it.” The reporting draws on a four-month Bridge Michigan investigation that examined records and other material, and described how officials had discussed the megasite effort with state and county counterparts long before Rood pressed for answers publicly.
The project, known as Project Grit, was framed by supporters as a way to bring high-paying semiconductor work to Genesee County even without a company’s commitment at the start. AP reported that the effort was a $261 million speculative plan to assemble a 2 square-mile megasite south of Flint Bishop Airport, and that it continued for more than two years amid extensive secrecy while officials pursued a tenant that never arrived in the promised form. According to the reporting, the megasite acquired about 155 homes and demolished close to half, but without landing a factory the township faced ongoing distrust and demands from lawmakers for explanations.
In addition to residents’ claims of limited awareness, the reporting described lawmakers receiving a more sanitized account of demolition plans. Bridge Michigan reported that state and local officials repeatedly concealed information from residents and even lawmakers, and that a deal tied to the project involved more than 100 nondisclosure agreements. The investigation also said the arrangement included ways for certain residents to buy homes in the megasite zone without acknowledging the houses were targeted for demolition, and offered up to $27 billion in incentives to a semiconductor manufacturer that ultimately walked away.
State and local officials have placed blame on the confidentiality arrangements and the company timeline, AP reported. The reporting said officials have pointed to Western Digital’s spinoff and its spinoff Sandisk, and said the company’s plans became public when the deal fell apart in July. Tyler Rossmaessler, executive director of the Flint and Genesee Economic Alliance, which leads the local effort to assemble the property, told AP that he declined an interview request by Bridge, according to the report. Rossmaessler also appeared in a presentation cited by AP, where he discussed the region’s need for good-paying jobs, and the alliance’s role in moving the property forward.
Public officials and economic development groups also defended the broader use of confidentiality during negotiations while acknowledging the need for community input. Maureen Krauss, president of the Detroit Regional Partnership economic development group, told AP that some secrecy is common in economic development to allow confidential information to be disclosed during negotiations. But lawmakers cited by AP said the secrecy in Mundy was excessive: state Rep. Brian BeGole said the plan had “absolutely no transparency at all,” and state Sen. Thomas Albert said taxpayers “bankrolled the leveling of a community.”
The reporting said lawmakers who approved funding were told in public meetings in 2024 by state economic development officials that the project would involve only “some demolition” of “structures.” In April 2024, Michigan Economic Development Corp. COO Christin Armstrong told reporters that “This project doesn’t fundamentally change the character of the area,” according to AP. AP reported that the area around Flint Bishop Airport is described as highly agricultural and residential in the reporting, and that it sits near planned housing development by a major homebuilder. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her staff did not return messages seeking comment, the AP report said, while a spokesperson for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., Danielle Emerson, said the public had multiple opportunities to offer input.
Bridge Michigan’s reporting described how the megasite grew out of competition for new auto and semiconductor investment, and how state support increased after Ford Motor Co. announced in fall 2021 it would invest $13 billion in electric vehicle plants in Kentucky and Tennessee. AP reported that, in response, Whitmer and bipartisan leaders set aside $1 billion in new corporate subsidies to compete with southern states for big manufacturers. Two weeks before Rood’s question in 2023, the township board had approved an “overlay” zoning change accommodating the project, according to the reporting, though the AP account said Mundy officials did not otherwise notify the public beyond online postings and notices in township channels.
As residents sought more information, AP described how opposition intensified into public meetings and organized campaigns. Rood’s question, the report said, ignited further demands for details, and local residents began “jamming” township meetings starting in May 2023. Don Ludwig started a Facebook page, and Sue Dishaw became a leader in a “No Megasite” movement that pushed to disclose facts and urged environmental safeguards, AP reported. By fall 2023, the reporting said 1,600 residents signed a petition seeking a moratorium on EV and semiconductor development, and the township took no action, continuing to tell organizers that there was no specific business filing proposal, according to the report.
The AP report also described the role of nondisclosure agreements and communications strategy behind the scenes as opposition grew. Bridge Michigan said some sellers were bound by NDAs and did not answer neighbors’ questions, and the reporting described offers being made verbally while key details stayed confidential. It also said documents show a marketing company, Moment Strategies, was hired by MEDC for $161,000 to “ensure all (state megasite) outreach and community engagement efforts are aligned … and mitigate any opposition.” Disputes in the community letters later became part of the public argument as Dishaw and others said the letters highlighted jobs while omitting demolition and neighborhood disruption plans.
The report said negotiations for the semiconductor deal accelerated after Western Digital returned to the effort, and it described an expanded projected workforce and facility footprint in spring 2024. According to AP, company representatives asked Michigan to submit a new offer and Western Digital promised 6,800 new workers plus about 450 Japanese workers on visas. The report said the plan contemplated a semiconductor campus covering 13 million square feet, with a tallest building potentially up to 12 stories, and indicated a planned 20-year investment program. It also said the state created a “strike team” to land the deal by bringing the 1,300+ acre site “to shovel ready status by August 2026,” as Bridge reported through emails and other documents.
Bridge Michigan’s investigation described how state incentive packages grew as timelines changed, and it reported that Michigan offered Western Digital an $18.5 billion package in April 2024 and increased its offer to $24 billion by the end of May. The reporting said the largest portion was a 50-year tax-free zone worth at least $18 billion, and that the MEDC set up additional grants through SOAR in 2024 to move the site forward, including $9.25 million in April and $250 million in May. AP reported that the MEDC’s communications to the company also emphasized public relations and engagement efforts, including language about mobilizing stakeholders “to neutralize opposition.”
Eventually, the plan unraveled. AP reported that Western Digital spun the plan into a separate public company and that Sandisk was identified only when it walked away from the megasite and the offer had climbed to $27 billion. While the state kept demolition and land-clearing moving even after the factory commitment collapsed, AP said heavy equipment continued work and that holdouts dwindled as late-February demolition and ongoing March clearing proceeded. MEDC spokesperson Emerson told Bridge that “landowners are free to engage in the free market and sell their property, or not,” AP reported, while James Hohman of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy said the government’s spending to buy land for an aspirational factory was not acting like a free market.
Even amid the fallout, some officials said nondisclosure agreements were the best available option at the time. Former supervisor Tonya Ketzler told Bridge, AP reported, that “We knew we couldn’t stop it in court,” and that “We had to protect our citizens as much as we could.” Ketzler added that “You’re not going to stop manufacturing in Mundy Township or anywhere in Genesee County.” White rejected the claim that NDAs created secrecy, AP reported, but said he hoped future efforts would involve the community more. Residents and advocates, meanwhile, continued to argue that the public deserved earlier and clearer information about what was planned for their homes and neighborhoods.