West Point pinning hopes on Kia plant from Dave Bender on Vimeo.
Kia Motors and West Point city officials say the billion-dollar auto plant, set to open in 2009, is going ahead, on-schedule.
Construction workers have already cleared a 600-acre area, tabletop flat, just north of the city, where the 2-million square-foot plant is to be constructed.
Leveling the site and preparing infrastructure.
(Dave Bender)
City manager Ed Moon discounted a recent newspaper report doubting Kia's commitment, adding that the company's human resources chief says their plans are unchanged:
“They assured us in that meeting that everything is on-track. The plant will be finished by the fall of 2009 – they'll start mass-production then. There are no issues as far as the company being able to build here.”Local residents told GPB News that they welcomed the influx, and its economic boom. Several dozen KIA officials have moved into the vicinity in the last six months, and a bustling Korean restaurant has opened in the town.
Sign welcoming Kia outside a home in West Point.
(Dave Bender)
Click here for more GPB News reports about the Kia plant and its effect on the area.
