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WARREN -- Warren officials and business owners plan to welcome Foxconn -- the Taiwanese company that acquired the former General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown to mass produce electric vehicles -- with a day of events next month.
Warren Welcomes Foxconn Day is scheduled for May 20 downtown.
"When your neighbor brings jobs and opportunities to your neighborhood, you want to make sure they are appreciated, and that is what this special day is designed to do," said Mayor Doug Franklin.
"With an influx of economic development across our community, many people will be looking for a new place to live; they'll all be looking for places to shop, eat, drink and be entertained. While they are looking, we want to be sure they are looking at Warren …," Franklin said.
The goal of the day is to encourage local businesses and nonprofit organizations to give Foxconn employees and local residents a reason to visit their businesses, said Beth Carmichael, executive director of the Trumbull County Tourism Bureau.
The day begins at 10 a.m. at the Warren Community Amphitheater with a brief ceremony and a performance by the Warren G. Harding High School band. At 11 a.m., will be a coffee mixer at BRITE Energy Innovators, 125 W. Market St., where residents will have the opportunity to talk to Foxconn representatives.
If the weather is poor, the opening ceremony will be in the cafetorium at the high school.
Foxconn acquired the plant from Lordstown Motors Corp. for $230 million in May 2022, and has been working since to transform the factory's capabilities.
The company, the world's largest contract manufacturer of consumer electronics, has agreements in place with Lordstown Motors to produce its battery-powered truck, the Endurance, and with California-based Monarch Tractor's line of autonomous farm tractors.
Last week, Foxconn and Monarch introduced the first five tractors made at the plant to the public. Production estimates for this year are more than 1,000.
It also has an agreement with INDIEV to make the prototype versions of INDIEV's Indi One, billed by the California company as the first-ever vehicle with a vehicle-integrated computer capable of high-end gaming and learning the driver's habits.