Community leaders, organizations hold seminars to welcome families moving for Hyundai Metaplant

BRYAN COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - With construction now underway at the Hyundai Metaplant in Bryan County, hundreds of families from South Korea are moving into our community.

Local leaders want the community to be ready.

The Development Authority of Bryan County, World Trade Center Savannah, Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, the Richmond Hill/Bryan County Chamber of Commerce and Bryan County Commission organized seminars centered around welcoming these new neighbors.

The metaplant will be a years-long process, but it’s happening.

“What you’re seeing is the folks coming now from Korea. They’re building the plant. Then, you’ll see folks come over and transition to manufacture the cars,” said Bryan County Commission Chairman Carter Infinger.

So, several local joint organizations want to make sure our area is ready. That started by going to Montgomery, Alabama to see how they navigated being the first Hyundai manufacturing plant in North America.

“We don’t want to re-write the playbook right. We can come in and see how they did things with the Koreans coming. It’s an opportunity for everyone to be on the same page.”

Guests from Alabama will be at a community talk on Tuesday to share about how they did it.

“Explain how it transformed their area with the jobs and with the folks coming...so really we talked about the school system, how it’s going to impact the educational system, language barriers that we see.”

The chairman said they know there are questions and concerns about keeping a lot of the thousands of jobs local and they are working to make sure that happens.

“Just...the unknown right? We want to make sure there’s transparency and everyone’s on the same page because it will be a generational change for our community.”

Chairman Infinger said they have been in constant communication with Hyundai about guaranteeing many of the jobs stay local.

They are asking the community to come out Tuesday morning or afternoon to ask questions and hear about the part they can play in helping people navigate a new lifestyle here.

Bryan County’s meeting will happen tomorrow on the north and south end. Meetings will also be held in Effingham, Chatham and Bulloch County this week. You can register for all of the sessions here.

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