Hyundai's Bryan County Plant (Savannah, Pooler: hotels, construction jobs, construction)

[CoastalGAGuy]

I'm pretty sure the bulk of the Savannah metro and environs has little clue as to the full significance of the Hyundai plant now under construction in the northern part of Bryan County. Jim Morekis' excellent article in The Savannahian this week paints what I consider to be a pretty accurate picture of how things are shaping up.

Here it is summed up in two sentences, directly from the article:

In a stroke, Hyundai itself will become the second-largest employer in the entire Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area, second only to Gulfstream Aerospace with its over 10,000 employees.When you add in all the ancillary jobs from Hyundai's entourage of suppliers, the EV industry will soon be the largest civilian employer in the tri-county metro area of Bryan, Effingham, and Chatham counties.

You thought Pooler was too busy already? Hold onto your butts.

[recycled]

This is a big deal, I don't think you are exaggerating. In addition to the new jobs mentioned above, there are thousands of service industry jobs in fields not directly related to the battery plant and the suppliers. Anything from restaurants (Korean food especially), hotels (for short term business visits), grocery stores (maybe an H-Mart?), construction jobs (both the battery plant and additional housing for many of the new workers), etc, etc.

I don't think its an accident they picked a place like Savannah, with a major port on the doorstep. I would not be surprised if Hyundai exported some of the future EV batteries to their (and Kia's) existing vehicle manufacturing plants in Brazil, Turkey, Slovakia, Czech and Mexico.

The high cost of energy to operate a big factory outside the USA makes the Savannah location a better choice than putting a battery factory in Europe, Turkey, Brazil or Mexico.

[SavannahLife]

The politicians are gonna use the proceeds to lower taxes, invest in infrastructure, transit and community programs and create new green space and parks right? Looking forward to k-BBq though!

Interesting point about cost of energy. Does that outweigh labor?

[CoastalGAGuy]

You're in luck... Bewon has been open for awhile in Pooler, and they're pretty good!
https://www.bewonsbbq.com/
I can't speak to the plans of the Bryan County Commissioners or the local councils that govern near the new site. I can only imagine they are going to have their hands full with new needs that will probably do more to raise rather than lower taxes. There's lots of green space out that way currently, so I doubt they'll feel the need to improve on areas set aside for nature. Also, I don't know how progressive the transit plans for rural northern Bryan County are likely to be... Let's just call it limited pretty much to "more roads," and feel pretty safe about being right about that.

[recycled]

Originally Posted by SavannahLife

The politicians are gonna use the proceeds to lower taxes, invest in infrastructure, transit and community programs and create new green space and parks right? Looking forward to k-BBq though!

Interesting point about cost of energy. Does that outweigh labor?

For large, high-tech battery factories, the cost (and secure delivery) of energy outweigh labor. I see all sorts of news reports in Germany about the worry of factories re-locating to lower cost energy places including to the USA due to lower cost and secure availability of natural gas and electric power. I can easily understand how Hyundai would use a battery factory on the east coast USA to export to car factories in Europe, Turkey, Brazil and elsewhere to build EV cars.

Here is what goes into the cost of an EV battery:
https://www.ien.com/product-developm...osts-explained

Labor is only about 5 percent of the cost to build an EV battery. Overhead and other includes the electricity and natural gas to run the factory, which adds up to over a quarter of the cost to build the battery. This is the big item that can vary from place to place. Materials is about half the total cost, the biggest share of the total. Capital equipment is about 15 percent, which would be roughly the same no matter where the factory is.

[BullochResident]

Pembroke is currently about as small town as you can get. It'll be interesting watching it transform into a large suburb with mostly non-Georgians living there.

[GA Survivor]

Originally Posted by BullochResident

Pembroke is currently about as small town as you can get. It'll be interesting watching it transform into a large suburb with mostly non-Georgians living there.

I agree, Pembroke has also been a little behind the times ( the forgotten North of Bryan) and I don’t think they have any idea what is about to hit them. 5 years from now will be interesting, there is so much infrastructure and services they will need. I wonder if they are capable or will the state have to help out.

[UptwnRsdnt]

With all of this development between Chatham, Bryan and Bulloch counties, I wonder if Bulloch may be added to the Savannah MSA in the next decade. It is already part of the CSA, and the economic links will only get stronger.

[PA991.1]

I have been watching this closely and agree that most folks in the area have no understanding how massive this ecosystem will be. The housing demand alone will stretch an already tight market.

[WanderingImport]

You know, I’m surprised they didn’t get with Liberty or even Long county to be included in the JDA. That would give them a little more space to work with