Ford + hybrid batteries & transaxles = 220 green jobs in Michigan!

What’s the solution for a state with brimming unemployment rates and a timidly recovering economy? Jobs. But for new jobs to appear companies must grow in a way that sustains the need for new resources. Ford is delivering on that need – to the tune of 220 green jobs for offices and plants in Michigan that will be designing, engineering and producing components for hybrid vehicles.

Ford is seeing some success with its plunge into fuel efficient vehicles like the forward-looking Fusion Hybrid and is hoping to build on that with its remixed 2011 Fiesta. To stay on top, Ford is establishing a “Center of Excellence” in Michigan which will focus on putting the company in an industry-leading position when it comes to the electrification of vehicles.

Some of the new jobs are coming to the United States from Mexico and Japan.

Ford’s Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., will assemble the battery packs beginning in 2012, moving work to Michigan that is currently performed in Mexico by a supplier. Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., will build the electric drive transaxles beginning in 2012 from a supplier facility in Japan. According to Ford’s press release.

This is a pleasant intersection between expanding business employing people in a field of work that’s focused on helping us live greener lives. The development of better lithium-ion batteries certainly holds potential to lower our impact on the environment as more people buy hybrid and electric cars.

In tandem with its focus on fuel efficient cars, Ford has also taken a strong interest in tracking the social web by listening to its users actively on Twitter and Facebook, and investing in relationships with bloggers. Hopefully that’s a sign that Ford intends to continue listening closely to its customers so that in the future it’s always building transportation that the public wants and can afford.