May 5, 2024
LOCUST GROVE, Ga. (AP) — A South Korean company will open a factory in suburban Atlanta to make parts for electric batteries.
NVH Korea said Thursday that it would invest $72 million in a plant in Locust Grove, south of Atlanta, hiring 140 workers. The plant will make sensors, connections and protectors for electric vehicle batteries, beginning operations in 2024.
Chairman and CEO Ja Kyum Koo said in a statement that it’s NVH Korea's first venture into making components for electric batteries.
Based in Ulsan, NVH Korea is the 10th supplier to locate in the region after Hyundai said in 2022 that it would build a $5.5 billion plant to assemble electric vehicles and batteries in Ellabell, Georgia, near Savannah. The site could grow to 8,100 employees and is slated to begin producing vehicles in 2025.
Suppliers have pledged to invest nearly $2.1 billion and to hire nearly 4,900 people.
It's NVH Korea's second plant in Georgia. Subsidiary AFS America in Columbus makes floor mats and cargo trays for the Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Alabama, the sister Kia plant in West Point, Georgia, and for General Motors.
NVH Korea has 19 plants worldwide in South Korea, North America, China, India, Europe and Russia. It makes sound-dampening parts and materials, floor mats, headliners, and insulators, as well as parts to help manage engine and cooling system temperatures.
The state of Georgia will pay to train NVH Korea's workers. The company could qualify for $1.2 million in state income tax credits, at $1,750 per job over five years, as long as workers make at least $31,300 a year. The company could qualify for other incentives, including property tax breaks from Locust Grove and Henry County.
