Rural Georgia town bucks national downturn as automaker opens up shop

While Main Street businesses around the nation are closing as a result of recession, one rural Georgia town is seeing the opposite trend, thanks to a new car-manufacturing plant -- the only such plant in the nation planning to open this year. West Point, a town of 3,400 near the state's Alabama border, will be home to a new Kia plant, and residents are well-aware of their good fortune.

"It's hard all over the place," said Debbie Williams, co-owner of a local barbecue joint. "But in this little bitty town, we're so fortunate.' Williams' restaurant is one of many businesses experiencing a surge in popularity as the area prepares for the 7,000-10,000 new manufacturing jobs that will stem from the plant and businesses supplying parts to the company. Recently, Kenneth Thompson of the nearby LaGrange Daily News reported that the area had one of the highest unemployment rate in the state, with the local textile industry suffering major hits in the recession.

The automaker's decision to locate in the community reflects a growing trend, albeit one that has, for the most part, been put on hold as the country faces economic downturn. "Foreign automakers have flocked to the South," writes Michael Luo of The New York Times, "drawn by huge incentives offered by state officials, cheaper labor costs and the nonunion environment."
For their part, town residents hope that their town's future is not just a fluke, but is the beginning of a national economic upturn. But for now, they can appreciate their town's status as a symbol of hope. "We are the place that has the light at the end of the tunnel," said Mayor Drew Ferguson IV. (Read more)