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Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Mr. Jackson died on a flight to Seoul, causing his plane to make an unscheduled landing in Seattle. The company has confirmed that he was headed to Seoul on company business but that his death occurred during a scheduled layover in the city.
Randy Jackson, chief administrative officer of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, reportedly died during a layover in Seattle during a business trip to Seoul, South Korea, the afternoon of Friday, May 20.
Mr. Jackson, an industry veteran, was the first American hired by Kia shortly after the momentous deal in 2006 brought the plant to West Georgia and oversaw three waves of hiring at the plant.
According to Andy Kim, past president of the Korea-Southeast U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the cause of death may have been a heart attack, but an official pronouncement still is to be forthcoming.
The company confirmed that he had died from “natural causes’ while traveling.
Mr. Jackson is credited with a key role in establishing the Kia plant in West Point, Ga., and its success.
During a Korea-Southeast U.S. Chamber dinner in February he pointed with pride to the plant’s ability to produce close to “a car a minute. “ Last year, 360,000 vehicles came off its assembly lines.
He also said that the plant produced its Sorento CUVs and the Optimas at breakneck speed by having three rounds of shifts a day— a first, he said, for an auto company to run three shifts operating 24 hours a day, five days a week.
Before joining Kia in 2007, Mr. Jackson was employed with Mercedes Benz USA and International, Inc., in Vance, Ala., where he was a member of the senior executive management team, leading the human resource group to support their major expansions and growth.
A Macon native, Mr. Jackson worked for Toyota North America as general manager of human resources and administration. He helped establish plants in West Virginia, Indiana, Missouri, Alabama, Mexico and Europe, and led several Toyota expansions in Canada and the U.S.
He graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in psychology in 1979. He also received his master’s of business administration from Century University and earned a law degree from UCLA.
