Kia now accepting job applications for Georgia auto plant

Governor Perdue urges Georgians to take advantage of on-line application process

ATLANTA– Governor Sonny Perdue and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia today invited interested Georgians to begin submitting applications for positions at the Kia auto assembly facility currently under construction in West Point, Ga.

“This is a very exciting day, and one we’ve been looking forward to since Kia chose Georgia for its first U.S. plant,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “The positive economic impact of these jobs will affect not only the families of Kia workers and the immediate region, but all of Georgia.”

“Kia is now hiring!” said Byung Mo Ahn, president of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. during a press conference held at the Callaway Center on the campus of West Georgia Technical College. “We are looking for the best-qualified candidates to become Kia team members, and encourage all Georgians interested to apply on-line at www.kiajobsingeorgia.com.”

As part of its commitment to hire approximately 2,500 workers for the new plant, Kia will hire members of its production, maintenance and die maintenance teams through an on-line only application process facilitated by the Georgia Department of Labor. Interested applicants will find complete information and instructions at www.KiaJobsinGeorgia.com. Applications must be completed by Feb. 7, 2008, and the company anticipates making preliminary job offers around April 2008.

Prospective applicants can access the Web site from their home computers or from Georgia’s 53 Department of Labor Career Centers, whose personnel have been trained to assist them.

Workforce training will be conducted by the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education’s (DTAE) Quick Start program, which is building a training facility on the Kia site to provide workers with the skills they will need when the plant begins production in 2009.

The Kia facility, its first in the U.S., will eventually produce 300,000 vehicles a year. The economic impact to the state of Georgia is expected to be approximately $4 billion per year, according to a Georgia Tech study commissioned by the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

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