× Sam Magavern speaks during a press conference across from the Tesla Gigafactory calling for a new Request for Proposals for the site on Monday, July 21, 2025. Facebook Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts There is also the question of what additional incentives would be necessary to attract a company to replace Tesla at the site. "We're still subsidizing Tesla to be in that now," Magavern said. "I think the question is, can we do better? If we can't, if Tesla is the best use of the facility, can we at least put pressure on them to do more for what they've received and are still receiving? Let's open it up and find out who can do best." Tesla finished last year with 2,059 full-time jobs at its Riverbend factory on South Park Avenue, easily surpassing its job commitment and avoiding a $41.2 million penalty from the state, according to a report filed by the company with New York state. Tesla's plant on South Park Avenue in South Buffalo. Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News The proposed extension would increase Tesla's job commitment in Buffalo by 340 positions to a total of 1,800, while reducing the company's statewide employment pledge. It would allow Tesla to scale back its statewide job pledge partly because state franchise laws have limited the number of locations where the company can sell vehicles directly to consumers. Tesla uses that sales model instead of selling through dealership franchises. Tesla's rooftop solar installation business, which was the sixth largest state market for Tesla in 2020, has shrunk markedly, which also has cut the hiring it initially had expected to make for solar panel installations. The proposed extension would also require Tesla to pay $2 million a year in rent retroactive to 2024 and continuing through 2029. The rent would rise to $5 million a year during the extension through 2034. Tesla has been paying $1 a year in rent. Tesla has committed to $500 million in its Dojo artificial intelligence initiative in Buffalo by the end of 2029, including $350 million by the end of this year. The Riverbend facility was conceived by the Cuomo administration as a Western New York hub of solar panel manufacturing, first through a startup called Silevo, then with solar energy installer SolarCity and finally Tesla, which bought SolarCity as it faced severe financial troubles. Cuomo administration officials hoped the region would benefit from spinoff economic growth, in the form of suppliers establishing operations and creating jobs. Instead, Tesla produces its electric vehicle superchargers in Buffalo and has hundreds of employees doing data annotation work for its autonomous driving system development effort – work that requires only a high school diploma. Assembly Member Patrick Burke speaks during a press conference across from the Tesla Gigafactory calling for a new Request for Proposals for the site on Monday, July 21, 2025. "What's clear from the beginning is that this is a bad deal," said Assemblyman Pat Burke. Burke and other speakers at Monday's press conference also criticized Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, and questioned whether the state should want to extend its business relationship with Musk and his company. The Partnership for the Public Good and its supporters are trying to persuade Gov. Kathy Hochul to create the open process they want. "Hopefully, we've laid out a strong case for it," Magavern said. "I can't imagine she's that excited about doing business with Tesla and Elon Musk on an ongoing basis. Our hope is that if the public gets involved and says, 'Hey, we want better out of this situation,' the government would have every incentive to help us do better." Tesla has also drawn the ire of organized labor over firings at the plant in 2023, just after Workers United announced an organizing effort. The union said the firings were in retaliation for the organizing drive, while Tesla said they were due to poor performance reviews. Two other unions, the United Steelworkers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, launched their own organizing effort in 2018. The Tesla Buffalo workforce remains nonunion.