Governor Kemp makes largest economic development announcement in state history
Press Release
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday announced Hyundai Motor Group's plans to make a $5.5 billion investment to build an electric vehicle plant and battery manufacturing facility near Savannah, which he says is the largest economic development project in the state's history.
"We're very excited – it's massive," Kemp told FOX Business, saying that the project is expected to bring more than 8,100 jobs to Georgia's coastal region.
It was a pivotal moment in the state’s whirlwind courtship of the South Korean auto giant, which announced Friday it would build a $5.5 billion plant in Georgia that will employ as many as 8,100 people to build electric vehicles and batteries.
The Hyundai plant marks the second time in the last year that Georgia can boast of landing one of the biggest economic development projects in its history. In December, Rivian announced a $5 billion electric vehicle plant with 7,500 staffers.
Hyundai's site consultants had identified a "12 to 14" potential locations for an EV plant and narrowed that field to four finalists. Savannah was among them, in part because Hyundai Motors already operated a plant in Georgia - the Kia factory in West Point - and also due to the strong relationship the company has with the Georgia Ports Authority, which imports and exports hundreds of thousands of the automaker's vehicles each year.
"It's amazing how quickly this happened," Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said. "We made a very strategic decision to sell the (Pooler) megasite, and we got the Amazon announcement with 1,000 jobs there, which was great. Plus it gave us cash to go out and buy this site and start this acquisition."