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Judging the impact of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia on Troup and the counties surrounding West Point comes easily to Randy Jackson, who was hired shortly after the momentous West Georgia deal was signed in 2006 and has overseen three waves of hiring at the plant.
Speaking at the 25th anniversary gala of the Korea Southeast Chamber of Commerce Inc.’s founding that was held the evening of Jan. 28 at the plant’s training center on the 2,200-acre complex, Mr. Jackson, the facility’s chief administrative officer, mentioned with pride that the plant is now producing close to “a car a minute.” Last year, 360,000 vehicles came off its assembly lines.
He also pointed to the three rounds of shifts a day that keep the plant producing its Sorento CUVs and the Optimas at breakneck speed — a first, he said, for an auto company to run three shifts operating 24 hours a day, five days a week.
It all seems a long time since the textile industry abandoned 16,000 employees in the area, but that pain and frustration appear to have settled on the area’s subconscious.
To underscore the economic plight of Troup County, when Kia started hiring in January of 2008, over 43,000 people applied for the first wave of 1,200 jobs. The county and surrounding area had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. Today, the plant has more than 3,000 employees.
With a “never again” attitude, Mr. Jackson pointed in his remarks to the company’s commitment to educating the area’s future workforce.
As early as kindergarten, area children are being exposed to the sciences. By the time they are in the fifth and sixth grades they are well aware of the careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for which they are being prepared.
Through the company’s affiliation with A World in Motion (AWIN), the program of the Society of Automotive Engineers’s Foundation, more than 500 fifth graders from Troup, Meriwether, Harris, Chambers and Lanett City schools participate in the JetToy Challenge bringing STEM to life in their classrooms.
The exposure to career opportunities continues through their high school education as they participate in the THINC College and Career Academy developed by the Workforce Development Committee of the Troup County Center for Strategic Planning.
In early 2006, nine months before the Kia announcement, the county had launched its “Excellence in Education” project with the assistance of the Georgia Institute of Technology that helped put in place a plan focused on preparing its youth to work in not only in the most technical areas of the automotive industry, but in healthcare and energy disciplines as well.
The chamber’s dinner brought together some of the early players in what has come to be considered a major win for Georgia’s economic developers. Craig Lesser, who was the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development at the time, reunited with Jane Fryer, who recalled for Global Atlanta the first call she received from Commissioner Lesser about the possibility of the Kia plant landing in West Point.
Ms. Fryer, currently executive director of the Meriwether County Industrial Development Authority, assumed the presidency of the Korea Southeast U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier in January. A veteran economic developer who served as president of the LaGrange Chamber of Commerce & Development Authority from 1973-2011, she moved to her Meriwether County post in November 2011.
While the Kia plant was a major coup for Georgia, Alabama had landed in 2002 the Hyundai Motor Co.’s first U.S plant, also viewed as a $1 billion investment in its drive to become the world’s fifth largest manufacturer by 2010, a goal it achieved in 2012 in terms of sales and currently ranks as No. 4.
With the Hyundai plant only about a 100 miles away from West Point, it’s no surprise that representatives of Alabama economic developers and suppliers are making up a growing number of the members of the Korean chamber, which is reflected in its board members including Arndt Siepmann, director of Industrial Development of the city of Auburn, Ala., and Andy Hardin, market president for east Alabama at BBVA Compass Bank.
Anita Archie, chief of staff to Montgomery, Ala., Mayor Todd Strange, invited the chamber to hold its annual dinner next year in Montgomery, which celebrated last year the 60th anniversary of its historical bus boycott and the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march.
While the increase of Alabama presence was noticeable, Jane Caraway, a project manager for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, was the indefatigable master of ceremonies.
Dr. John Eaves, chairman of the Fulton County Commission, also underscored the interest of Georgia’s “most populous county” with approximately 1 million residents in attracting overseas companies and diversifying its population base.
The former Southeast regional director for the Peace Corps, Dr. Eaves has received scholarships and fellowships from the American Marshall Plan and the Fulbright program.
A veteran politician who knew that the audience included representatives of of the Korean War Veterans Association, Dr. Eaves didn’t forget to mention that his interest in international affairs stemmed from his father’s participation in the Korean War, and that it has broadened through a career in which he has helped bring educational and healthcare assistance to the people of South Africa, Sierra Leone, Paraguay, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
As chairman of Fulton County, he has worked in partnership with Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and the Brazilian state of Bahia to structure economic development cooperative agreements.
C. H. Andy Kim, chairman and CEO of the Corman Global Group and the chamber’s outgoing president, presented both Mr. Lesser and Mr. Jackson with lifetime achievement awards and recognized Dr. Eaves’ efforts to support Fulton County’s Korean residents.
The event was not limited to congratulatory speeches. Performance artists from the Atlanta Korean Cultural Center opened the evening with a dramatic presentation by traditional dancers and drummers.
SeJin Bang, Mr. Kim’s nephew, a 25-year-old fencing champion who has been winning accolades in Korea in Korea’s American-Idol style television show as the “singing swordsman,” closed the program with several Korean and English songs to enthusiastic applause from the more than 200 attendees at the event.
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