Our neighbor’s fortune

EDITORIAL
Published: June 17, 2008

Our friends to the north received some good news last week.

The City of Columbus landed its first industry directly related to the planned Kia plant in nearby West Point, Ga. According to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Pochun, South Korea-based DongNam Tech is planning a 100,000-square-foot factory on 26 acres.

The company will employ 350 and invest $29 million into the facility. The company manufactures carpet and floor mats for automakers ranging from General Motors to Nissan and Kia.

According to The Ledger, “The large local work force was one of the key reasons the Korea parts supplier decided to locate in Columbus...The city’s manufacturing base has taken a hit in recent years, with several thousand textile workers losing their jobs as production moved overseas.”

This is certainly good news for the Columbus area, and could be good news for Barbour and Quitman counties. Barbour County, of course, has lost its share of textile jobs in the past 18 months as well.

The future factory is approximately one hour from Eufaula, and will be a few minutes quicker once the four-laning of U.S. Hwy. 431 is completed from Phenix City to the Barbour County line.

Yes, the rising cost of gas will cause some potential workers to balk at the possibility of working 50 miles away from home.

But the starting pay will be between $12 and $15 per hour - better than most other production jobs in the area.

We also read with interest the final line in the Ledger article: “Several smaller suppliers have yet to make a decision on where they will locate in the Chattahoochee Valley region.”

Eufaula should be in the mix with at least some of these future suppliers.

It’s only 80 miles to West Point from Eufaula - certainly within the range of distance for smaller companies looking to locate in the Chattahoochee Valley.

We already have one automotive supplier in Hyundai Polytech. And from what we were told several months ago during a plant tour, the small company is doing well in the Bluff City. We think other suppliers would also do well here.

A potential supplier might be interested in the speculative building that the city is proposing to build in the Lakepoint Industrial Park, or even one of the vacant buildings on U.S. Hwy. 431 South that was used by Wellstone before the plant shut down operations. Maybe the right supplier will give Eufaula a chance.

While we’re glad to hear of Columbus’ success in luring a supplier, we would be even happier to learn of a good supplier locating here.

-PJ