In Gov. Brian Kemp’s inaugural address last month he boldly proclaimed that by the end of his second term Georgia would be “the electric mobility capital of America.” But Hyundai and Rivian aren’t the first automobile manufacturers to put down roots in Georgia, nor the only ones with EV offerings.
Back in 2006, under then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, Georgia secured the first Kia manufacturing plant in the U.S., at the time the state’s largest-ever economic development project. In 2009 the plant opened in West Point, near the Alabama border, on a 2,200 acre campus employing nearly 2,500 local workers. The plant grew over the next decade up to its current state where it employs 3,000 workers operating 24 hours a day to produce 340,000 vehicles per year.
Then came the automobile suppliers, spread along I-85 from Valley, Alabama east to Greenville, Georgia, providing support and services to the Kia plant. Between those and the dealerships that quickly sprung up that’s an additional 14,000 jobs created in west Georgia in total springing out of the automobile industry that Kia created.
Gov. Brian Kemp checks out the new Kia EV6
The company quickly developed close connections with local schools in order to build out its specialized workforce and partnered with the state to develop the Quick Start program, hailed by Kia’s leadership as “the new global benchmark” for advanced automotive training. Unemployment in West Georgia in 2006 sat at 12 percent – today it sits at just 3 percent.
On Tuesday at the Georgia Capitol Gov. Brian Kemp recognized the South Korean carmaker at the first annual Kia Day, flanked by company officials and state lawmakers on hand to celebrate the impact the manufacturer has had on the state over the past 14 years. Also on hand at Liberty Plaza, across from the Capitol, were the newest editions of the Telluride and Sorento, the two popular SUV’s produced in West Point, as well as the all-new EV6, Kia’s latest entrant into the EV marketplace.
To that end, Kemp said, Kia is a key member of the Georgia Electric Mobility and Innovation Alliance, which develops policy for the state’s burgeoning electric mobility industry and related fields. Kia Georgia CEO Stuart Countess, who also spoke Tuesday, chairs the group’s Supply Chain Committee. On the docket this year – figuring out EV charging stations, who is going to build them and who is going to maintain them – gas stations and energy utilities all surely want their say in the matter.
But Tuesday’s event wasn’t just about EVs and the future, it was also about looking back on what Kia has done for the West Georgia community that it has made its American home. “What an incredible story,” said Kemp. “Kia has not only been a good partner for our state but has been incredibly successful here.”
