(October 29, 2009) WEST POINT, Ga. — In the midst of one of the most severe economic downturns since the Great Depression, the economies of this small town on Interstate 85 and surrounding communities near the Alabama state line about 60 miles southwest of Atlanta are booming.


This drawing of the Kia plant in West Point was released by the state of Georgia in 2006.

That's because nearly five years ago the Hyundai-Kia Group of South Korea decided to build a Kia manufacturing plant here.

The plant officially began production on Oct. 23 when the first 2011 Kia Sorento rolled off the line.

It is Kia's first U.S. manufacturing plant, built at a cost of about $1 billion. The plant now employs 1,200 workers, which will rise to 2,500 as production increases. Another 7,500 workers are employed or will be employed by Kia suppliers, most of which are in a nine-county area around the plant.

 
Production has begun at the new Kia manufacturing plant in Georgia. The first 2011 Sorentos roll off the line in
these pictures shot on Oct. 27.

Georgia Tech University has estimated that by 2012 as many as 20,000 jobs could be created.

Kia officials here this week said there were 43,000 applications within 30 days for the 1,200 initial jobs. Salaries for the non-union production jobs start from between $14 and $20 an hour. Salaries range up to about $27 an hour on the mechanical side.

The state of Georgia executed the Site Acquisition and Development Agreement in March 2006 for the construction on 2,259 acres along I-85. Kia officials said the close proximity of Birmingham, Ala., and the recently opened Hyundai plant there, played a big part in deciding on location. There will be some shared suppliers with the Birmingham plant, and Hyundai builds some engines in Birmingham that will be used in the Kia products.

At full capacity the West Point plant can manufacture 300,000 vehicles a year.

— Jim Meachen