A trip to South Korea to meet with officials from Hyundai Motor Group and two other companies building plants in Bulloch County “proved terrific in helping us better understand their businesses from both professional and cultural viewpoints,” said Benjy Thompson, CEO of the Bulloch County Development Authority.

Thompson, Billy Allen, chairman of the Development Authority, Bulloch County Manager Tom Couch and Bulloch County Commissioner Ray Mosley were in South Korea April 17-21 along with members of the I-16 Joint Develop-ment Authority from Effingham, Bryan and Chatham counties. 

Bulloch and the three aforementioned counties formed the I-16 JDA in 2014 that eventually helped land Hyundai Motor Group’s EV and battery “meta plant,” now being built at the 2,284-acre “mega site” in Bryan County about five miles from Bulloch’s southeastern boundary. The Hyundai plant itself is projected to employ 8,100 people to make Hyundai, Kia and Genesis branded vehicles. 

Along with Hyundai, Thompson, Allen, Couch and Mosely met with officials from two other South Korean companies – Joon Georgia and Ecoplastic – who are building Bulloch plants directly tied to supplying the Hyundai meta plant.

Thompson said the days were packed with meeting executives and employees of all three companies.

One of the key details Thompson said the group learned was exactly how the Hyundai suppliers – Joon and Ecoplastic – will work with the Hyundai plant once it is operational and the importance of a seamless operation.

Joon and Ecoplastic are considered “tier 1” suppliers in that they will work directly with the Hyundai plant. Thompson said they spoke with executives with both companies about how the Development Authority and Bulloch officials possibly could help attract, or work closely with, “tier 2” suppliers who will deliver materials to the Joon and Ecoplastic plants.

“Certainly, none of those suppliers have made any plans to locate here, but we wanted to open that door to being helpful wherever we can,” Thompson said.

Thompson said perhaps the biggest benefit of the trip was to offer “a face-to-face appreciation with representatives from all the companies for their commitment to coming to our little part of the world. We know how much research they did. We know the resources they are investing here. We know how important this venture is to all of us.”

The trip marked the first opportunity for Bulloch representatives to meet with the leadership of Joon and Ecoplastic, Thompson said. In fact, Ecoplastic representatives told him it was the first time a delegation from an area where they are building a plant had ever come to visit with them in South Korea. 

“That was very important to them,” Thompson said.

Joon Georgia, a unit of established metal auto body parts manufacturer Ajin USA, is a longtime supplier to Hyundai Motor Group. Ajin has committed to invest $317 million and eventually employ 630 people at a plant to be built on an 83-acre site inside Bruce Yawn Commerce Park off U.S. Highway 301 and I-16. 

Ecoplastic America Corporation is building a $205 million plant, promised to create 456 jobs, with both the investment and the job creation phased in over eight years, on a DABC-owned site south of Statesboro. The Ecoplastic plant built on a 78-acre site along Highway 301, but not in either of the county’s named industrial parks. It will make injection-molded plastic exterior and interior parts for Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicles.