As Hall County prepares to welcome its newest and largest Korean investor next year, community leaders traveled to the country to deepen business relationships as part of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s June mission.
CJ Foodville, a subsidiary of the massive food and lifestyle conglomerate CJ Group, is set to invest up to $47 million next year into a Gainesville facility that will employ 285 people.
The 100 million pieces of frozen dough it churns out annually, from croissants to kimchi croquettes, will be packaged and distributed to the 1,000 Tous Les Jours cafes the company plans to open during the next six years across the U.S. (For perspective, it has 100 stores in this market thus far).
While in Seoul, the Hall County delegation presented CJ Foodville CEO C.H. Kim with a Masters golf tournament flag signed by 1973 champion Tommy Aaron, who hails from Gainesville. The governor and First Lady Marty Kemp were on hand for the exchange.
The gesture adds to the sense of welcome that CJ Foodville USA CEO Tony Hunsoo Ahn said the company has felt even before ramping up operations.
In a 2023 Global Atlanta commentary piece, Mr. Ahn praised the governor and the state for creating a hospitable environment for Korean firms — and not just on the workforce development and economic policy fronts.
“I have felt their eagerness to embrace our company and their personal warmth,” Mr. Ahn wrote of meetings with Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Vice President Tim Evans and other state leaders. “One of the ways we hope to reciprocate this feeling is by relying on locally sourced ingredients at our new Gainesville facility, with a focus on supporting local suppliers.”
During the trip, the Hall County leaders were set to showcase opportunities associated with the Blue Ridge Connector, an inland port project set to open next year. Despite not being operational yet, the project helped attract a 270,000-square-foot cold storage facility commissioned by CJ Logistics, another company under the CJ conglomerate’s umbrella.
CJ Logistics is partnering with developer RL Cold on the building, which will be equipped with 30,000 pallet positions, blast-freezing capabilities and an on-site inspector from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gainesville is a global capital for poultry processing, with much of the production capacity ending up as frozen food.
Other Korean firms operating in Hall County include Jinsung TEC (Oakwood), Alfrex (South Hall),KOS (Flowery Branch) and Dongwon Tech Corp.
Read more about the delegation here: Chamber Business Delegation in South Korea – Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce
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