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It’s a story Georgia has lived before: A massive Korean plant takes root, followed by a parade of suppliers that end up creating more jobs than the initial record-breaking foreign investment.
The first wave was the Kia Motors plant in West Point, starting in 2007.
According to SK Battery, which is in the midst of building a $2.6 billion complex in Commerce, another one is on the rise.
In announcing that it had hired 200 people toward its ambitious pledge of 2,600 jobs by 2024, the electric vehicle battery maker SK also revealed multiple foreign suppliers already primed to put factories nearby.
Some have been previously announced, like Enchem, which pledged a very precise $61.35 million and 300 jobs, Gov. Brian Kemp announced. Dongwon Tech, which Global Atlanta reported would undertake a $700,000 expansion in Hall County creating 40 jobs, is another known supplier.
But the likes of EcoPro BM, which makes cathode materials, have not been the subject of any economic development news releases. Spun off from parent company EcoPro, the company was founded in 2016 and has annual sales of $528 million. The company formed a Georgia subsidiary, EcoPro BM America Inc., in September 2020, according to business filings.
According to an SK Innovation news release, Korea-based TopTech also supplied equipment to the factory, along with Japan-based Toyo Color, part of the Toyo Ink Group, which has multiple facilities in Georgia.
It’s all part of a “trickle-down effect” SK Battery is promoting, boasting economic impact on top of the 2,600 jobs it plans to create by 2024.
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