Kia Motors Corporation, a South Korean automaker, announced that they will add an additional 1,000 new jobs at its auto manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia. The 30,000 residents were excited to hear the latest news since it will mean additional employment for the community. In the recent years, the town was known to be a textile manufacturing area until the recession hit it and the textile industry slowly began to slow down. Kia started manufacturing the Kia Sorento in 2009 and the Hyundai Santa Fe was added to the production line in October 2010.

Jeff Lukken, the mayor of LaGrange, said that the town is very happy with Kia’s investment since the textile industry no longer supports their economy. “The town has a lot to be happy about since Kia moved to the county. In 2009, we lost four textile plants. In 2010, we lost another textile facility and two more manufacturing plants here. So, I can’t imagine what LaGrange would look like had it not been for Kia coming to locate here along with the Korean suppliers.”

Recently, more and more companies have been attracted to invest in the city due its present working conditions, with huge tax incentives and a large nonunion workforce. Some of the other companies who have invested in LaGrange include Caterpillar Inc., Duracell and Wal-Mart distribution center. Despite its increasing investors, the unemployment rate for Troup County is still high, now recorded at nearly 11% in October — a rate higher than the national average which is currently at 9.8%.