Kia Supplier Applicants Hoping Skill Counts More Than Luck

Sign with the slogan: "If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It," guiding applicants to parking slots at Sewon's job fair at West Georgia Technical College at Lagrange, Ga., Feb. 9, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Thousands of job applicants are hoping for a shot at a spot with a major supplier for Kia's car plant under construction in western Georgia.

Hundreds of hopeful job applicants waiting their turn to fill in applications at West Georgia Technical College at Lagrange, for positions with Sewon on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

John Wade Riddle of Lagrange has been unemployed for several months. He worked for 25-years in a carpet mill, and hopes to make the switch to the auto industry:

”I’m hoping. I mean, they’re hiring 700 people, and we had about 6-700 this morning, from the looks of it, you know. But I’m hoping, with my background and everything, hoping they’re looking for someone with a little experience.”

Riddle just applied with Sewon America which needs people to build body parts for Kia’s assembly line in nearby West Point.

A Georgia Department of Labor team member guides job applicants waiting on line at West Georgia Technical College at Lagrange, to rooms where they'll apply for positions with Sewon on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Overall, officials expect some 4,000 people to apply during the three day job fair at West Georgia Technical College.

Some started lining up at midnight from as far away as Louisiana, Alabama and other parts of Georgia.

A translator (not visible here) assisted Spanish-speaking applicants in filling out forms at a table outside the application center. (Photo: Dave Bender)

John Johnson drove down early this morning from Douglasville, west of Atlanta.

But he’s a bit discouraged by the sheer number of people in line ahead of and behind him who all have the same idea:

"…not with nine million people [who are] going to be here! Brother – you got a lot of people out of work – point blank."

With five mouths to feed, Johnson is betting his 20-years experience in auto paint and bodywork increase his chances.

He’s not thrilled about the ten dollar an hour starting salary, listed on a company flyer (see image below).


Sewon job application form. Click on image for close-up. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Johnson says his experience should count for something, and make his hour-long commute worthwhile. Looking over the starting salary chart, he says:

"...hopefully more pay than what they're talking about on this paper, ‘cause experience is what counts – well, what used to count. Nowadays, experience don’t mean nothin’."

Job seekers fill in application forms in a classroom at West Georgia Technical College at Lagrange, for positions with Sewon on Monday, Feb. 9, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

As applicants hand over their forms, they pass by a Sewon promotional film showing happy Korean Sewon employees.

"Sewon’s bold challenges are just the beginning…" an announcer says.

Those at the fair will find out in the next few weeks, if they’ll join their ranks.

Labor department spokesman Sam Hall says the department processed more than 300 applications by midmorning today. Hundreds are still waiting to turn theirs in.

All applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent and manufacturing experience is preferred. The Quick Start office in LaGrange is accepting applications from 8 AM to 9 PM through Wednesday.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Kia facility, and its suppliers.

Job Seekers Flood LaGrange

Job seekers flooded a state employment office in LaGrange this morning, hopeful of landing one of 600 positions to be filled for a new KIA auto supplier. Sewon America has positions in stamping, production and assembly for its operations--in support of the KIA plant being built in West Point. The Georgia Quick Start office in LaGrange began accepting applications at 8am today. They'll be accepted through Wednesday, until 9pm each day.

KIA, Suppliers Promise Fall Rollout, Despite Sluggish Economy

Kia Motors’ HR chief Randy Jackson says the Korea-based automaker is still on track to open their 2-million sq.-ft. West Point facility in late ’09.

“We’re still hanging our hat on that launch date late this year,” Jackson told GlobalAtlanta.

The company is working closely with Georgia’s Quick Start to train and qualify some 2,500 production line workers to build SUV’s at the $1.2 billion facility, as well as more than 6,000 employees for a number of tier-one suppliers.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Kia car plant.

Columbus Job Fair: Officials Optimistic, Despite Cuts

Applicants looking for work throng the hall of the Columbus Trade and Convention Center, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 1009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

More than 2,500 job-seekers attended a job fair held in Columbus Thursday. Employers from the area, as well as out-of-state and national firms were at the event, held at the city’s convention center.

Department of Labor officials say some 55 companies, from Aflac and local hospitals, to local and Atlanta MARTA police departments, to Georgia Power and employment agencies are taking job applications.


Miguel Flores (facing) of Fort Benning assists a job-seeker at the Columbus job fair, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Fort Benning's Warrior Transition Battalion has a representative here as well, to aid troops in making the sometimes complex conversion from uniform to civvies.

There are also representatives from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in nearby Lumpkin, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

The large-scale fair is held several times a year, and Labor Department officials say while the turnout by employers is a little more than half last year's showing – they’re optimistic that employers and applicants will be introduced to each other.


Applicants submitting resumes to company online websites. (Photo: Dave Bender)

To that end, they’ve set up a bank of computers for applicants to go directly to the companies’ websites, and set up interviews there, as well.

Many of the job-seekers are either in, or soon after college, and some have recently completed military service.

Celeste Edge of Columbus is looking has a degree in Communications and wants a position in her field:

"It’s been ok; I’ve talked to a couple of people who seem a little promising, like the hospital and one of the staffing agencies who thinks they might be able to place me – but, you know – I’m just hoping for the best."

There were many resumes and handshakes, and many people filled in applications online.

Jim Huntzinger of the DOL is one of the fair’s organizers, and says they’re trying hard to lower jobless rates:

"We have 55 employers here, with, as i say, with the economic situation, is, I think, fantastic. And it’s 55 employers that have jobs."

Some came away frustrated from the experience, though.

Eric Harris of Columbus recently finished the Army and is studying criminal law at Troy University; he got a lot of what he calls “headnoes”:

"...that’s everybody shaking their heads, saying, ‘No; go online; we don’t have any applications, we’re not hiring…so it’s like, I’m very discouraged at this point so I’m just thinking about dropping school and going back in the military – and I’m, not the only one feeling like this. There’s a lot of others in there stressing the same thing about their feeling the same disappointment at this job fair – they need to do better."

About 3,000 people turned out for last year's job fair, and Department of Labor officials say they’ll hold a similar job fair in May.

Kia Motors' tier-one supplier, Sewon American, will accept applications for 400 to 600 production workers for a car parts factory that will open in a few months.

They'll be taking applications next week in Lagrange.

The Kia plant in West Point is about half an hour north of Columbus, and is set to open its doors in the late fall.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the job situation.

Kia Plant an Example of Jobs, Job Losses

Kia Motors assembly plant and new access road, along I-85 between West Point and LaGrange, Ga., December, 2008. (Dave Bender/file)

As state unemployment rates soar to the highest in a quarter-century, west Georgia is seeing both business development -- and recession over the new Kia auto plant under construction at West Point.

KIA and state officials unveil Now Hiring! sign at ceremony at West Georgia Technical College, Jan. 8, 2008. (Dave Bender/file)

The Latest Georgia Department of Labor statistics say almost 400,000 Georgians are looking for work.

Jobless numbers for December doubled to over eight percent since the same period the previous year.

In Columbus, a prospective Kia supplier is canceling a planned facility after changing owners. That plant would have brought 350 jobs to the city to make car parts.

Despite the gloomy figures, Mike Gaymon of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce says west Georgia will weather the recession better than much of Georgia:

"Within the next couple of quarters, you'll see the economy in our region start to come out quicker than the state; which will probably be followed sometime later on in 0-10. So, based upon all the primary jobs that will be coming into play, over the next several months, and within the next six months to a year, our economy we think is poised to be a bright spot in our state and in our region."

One signpost of that recovery is the announcement by another Kia supplier, who plans to open a seat-belt plant in West Point, that will employ 50 people.

Kia officials say the assembly line is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of '09.
Signs of the times in west Georgia. (Dave Bender)


Click here for more GPB News coverage about Georgia's economy.

Traffic delays possible as Kia brings in equipment

Georgia State Patrol will escort a machine weighing over six-hundred-thousand pounds and occupying two lanes of traffic to the new Kia plant in West Point tonight.

The machine, along with other equipment, arrived at the Port of Savannah last week.

The Georgia Department of Transportation expects delays late tonight and into the early morning as the one-hundred-twenty-eight loads head to the South Korean auto-maker’s plant.

(Macon Telegraph)

Major KIA equipment arrives in Georgia

The first major assembly equipment for the Kia plant in west Georgia has arrived in the state. A ship with 3,500 tons of auto manufacturing equipment arrived in Savannah this week from South Korea. It will make its way across the state in the new few weeks, headed for the 1.2 billion dollar plant under construction in West Point. The equipment will be put together into two large presses that form various panels for the KIA vehicles.

Kia supplier opening Columbus factory

A Korean automotive parts firm is set to open it's first U.S. plant in Columbus, by year's end.

Illustration of Dongnam Tech auto carpet products. (Courtesy)

DongNam Tech, will open a 100,000 sq.-ft., 26-acre factory in Jan., 2009 that will make carpet and floor mats for several car makers including General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, and Nissan.

The $29 million plant, to be built in the Muscogee Technology Park will create 350 jobs, according to a Governor's Office statement.

The plant is one of many suppliers that have opened facilities in western Georgia, to service the Kia Motors assembly line, presently under construction near West Point. The $1.2 billion plant is scheduled to open in early to mid 2009.

Construction cranes at Kia plant lifting girders into place, June, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Kia factory, and its local and statewide impact.

Kia: mixed signals over car plant plans

Artists rendering of completed Kia automaking plant. (Courtesy/Dave Bender)

Local Kia officials on Wednesday denied a rumored change in car production plans for it's west Georgia plant, set to open in 2009.

Senior Hyundai officials in Korea were quoted on Tuesday as saying that the plant would retool to produce a small car, instead of a planned SUV model due to fast-rising gas prices, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

But Richard Park, media-relations chief for Kia's Georgia operation confirmed that -- locally, at least -- they're still on track to build the larger vehicle:

“Right now, we're not giving any, any information from headquarters, officially. So, in my understanding, our original schedule will be ongoing. That's the only thing that I can confirm officially.”

As well, Randy Jackson, Kia's director of human resources and administration amplified Park's words in a statement released Wednesday:

“At this point, the next generation Sorento is the only vehicle that I can confirm we will be producing in West Point."

It's as yet unclear what impact, if any, a move to a smaller vehicle would have on the planned $1.2 billion West Point plant.

Officials say the plant will employ 2,500 people, and produce upwards of 300,000 vehicles annually.

Tractor clearing brush for new entrance road to Kia plant from I-85. (file photo/Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the facility and its economic effects on the area.

KIA drops pickup truck from new plant

KIA Motor Company's parent company Hyundai has called off plans to build pickup trucks at the west Georgia factory now under construction.

Planning map of the now-under-construction Kia plant, at the West Point city hall. (Dave Bender)

Hyundai had reportedly planned to build a mid-sized truck at the KIA factory in West Point, which is set to open in 2009, according to an article in Automotive News:

"Hyundai CEO Kim Dong-Jin said the company's board in 'a recent decision' scrapped plans for a unibody pickup in the United States. Kim said the original plan was to build a mid-sized truck for Kia and Hyundai at Kia’s new plant in West Point, Ga."

“But we are forced to give up production of the pickup at the North America plant,” Dong-Jin said, according to the article.

Hyundai cited soaring gas prices, and a sluggish housing market.

Still, Kia officials say construction is continuing, and they're still training workers. They're also still discussing what models they'll produce, according to KIA Human Resources Director
Randy Jackson:

"Earlier we released that we'd be manufacturing the SUV as the first model, and then we have said our second model -- we're still under discussion to determine what that'll be, and we have not reached a conclusion on that announcement yet."

The plant will eventually assemble 300,000 vehicles a year.

Sign of the times on a West Point resident's lawn, supporting the Kia plant. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB coverage of the KIA facility.

English-only fails in state House

A constitutional amendment that would have made English the official language of Georgia failed in the State House today after opponents argued it would be bad for business. The amendment needed a two-thirds majority to pass in order to make it onto the November ballot. It did not get that majority. The bill's sponsor, Tim Beardon, said it would not have much of an effect, but only require that driver's tests would need to be taken in English. Opponents argued that Georgia is attracting a lot of internatioanl companies including KIA, and could be at a competitive disatvantage over neighboring states if it passe the ammendment.

Georgia law already requires that English be the state's officials language. A Constitutional amendment would have made it part of the state's Constitution. The amendment's sponor said he will ask the State House to reconsider the poposal tomorrow.

Worker killed at west Georgia Kia site

A construction worker has died from an accident at the Kia auto factory site in west Georgia. The Troup County coroner says 47-year-old Ollie Tate of Cartersville was killed Tuesday morning at the plant in West Point. No details on the accident were given. Officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating. The 2.4 million-square-foot Kia plant is scheduled to open in November of 2009, and expected to employ at least 25-hundred people.

New Kia Supplier Opening Shop

Backhoe removing foliage for entrance road off I-85 to Kia plant at West Point. (file photo/Dave Bender)

The State of Georgia has inked a deal with a Korean company, that will manufacture parts for a Kia auto plant being built at West Point.

The Governor's Office says the Sewon Precision company will create 700 jobs and invest $170 million dollars in the LaGrange facility. It'll be built over the next three years at a site not far from the Kia production facility being built in West Point.

The Sewon plant will make chassis and body parts for Kia SUVs. Georgia and Korean officials signed the deal on Wednesday, and the plant will be the company's first facility in the United States.

Governor Sonny Perdue met with a range of Korean officials in October, Sewon among them, in a bid to sign as many local Kia suppliers as possible. Kia's West Point auto plant is scheduled to open in 2009, and the company is opening an internet site for job-seekers at http://www.kiajobsingeorgia.com.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Kia facility.

200 auto supply jobs coming to west Georgia

Kia Motor Company’s planned auto plant in west Georgia has attracted two new automotive suppliers to the area. Pretty Products and DaeLim USA are expected to create a combined 200 jobs in La Grange. Kia is set to open its first U.S. car plant there in 2009.

Click here for more on the Kia plant and its effect on La Grange and the area.

Perdue gives nod to $80M cloverleaf near West Point

A Marietta company, C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., is slated to build an $80.5 million interchange on I-85 near West Point.

The project is to be completed by December 2008, according to a contract announced today. Kia Motors nearby auto plant plans to start rolling out cars several months later in mid-2009.

The plan also includes building and improving other roads in the vicinity.