By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A Facebook group is trying to attract Tesla Motors to Massena.

As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, 8,736 people had joined the page “Tesla Motors for Massena.”

“This group was created to attract, inspire, and encourage Mr. Elon Musk, founder of Tesla Motor company, to bring his company to Massena,” group administrator Bill Jaggers writes on the page. “Massena is a perfect fit for Mr. Musk's company, and Tesla Motors would be a major economic boost to Massena.”

Dan Girard of Louisville, one of the group’s founders, believes Tesla would fit with Massena because their electric cars are built with 100 percent aluminum bodies.

“There’s two aluminum manfacturing sites who can really focus on … specialized components,” Girard said.

He also noted the availability of low-cost hydropower from the Moses-Saunders Power Dam.

Massena is no stranger to the automotive industry. General Motors operated a plant in Massena for five decades and polluted the land and water with dangerous levels of cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls. The company went bankrupt and abruptly closed plants nationwide, including Massena’s, which took away hundreds of good-paying jobs.

Girard says he thinks Tesla would not be an instance of history repeating itself.

“Tesla is not the same company,” he said. “[Tesla] was created as a response to companies like General Motors who said the creation of an electric vehicle would not be feasible.

“In any situation where you have a company coming in, there’s always a chance where they could grow or bust.”

The group is encouraging people to use Twitter to attract Musk’s attention.

“Twitter gives you direct access to people who make decisions,” Girard said.

On April 9 at noon, they are organizing a “Twitter Bomb,” meaning all of their members are encouraged to simultaneously tweet to Musk, Tesla Motors, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer and Rep. Elise Stefanik using “#muskformassena” and “#teslaformassena.”

Girard said he is hoping that they can get Twitter to pick up the hashtags as “trending,” meaning 3,000 or more tweets in a certain timeframe. He is hoping for 7,000 tweets.

Girard said once the social media campaign finds a bit more footing, he will seek to involve local economic development corporations, such as the Massena Business Development Corporation and the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency. He also wants to in the future involve St. Lawrence County’s four colleges, along with local, state and federal representatives.

Girard said he was inspired to start the social media campaign after January’s “Wear Red for Fallen Raiders” social media phenomenon. Several thousand people had joined the group and wore red on Jan. 23 in memory of Massena Central classmates, teachers, administrators and supporters who have died.

“It was kind of inspiring, how they came together that way,” Girard said.