Timeline for the development of Hyundai Metaplant North America
A timeline of key events in the development of Hyundai Metaplant North America, Erabelle, Georgia.
The factory has an average annual salary of $58,105, creating an estimated 38,000 direct and indirect jobs that will boost the local economy. The influx of workers and their families will require critical infrastructure improvements, including new schools, roads, potentially tax supplies and new schools with potentially funded new prisons, roads and new prisons with potentially new prisons. Workforce training is a priority for local water resources, and there are state-funded programs that partner with Quick Start Hyundai to provide professional training to employees in the electric vehicle industry.
Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant America is beyond the ages since Georgia’s largest economic project. Of course, it will be the single most transformative impact on the economy, labor, public resources and lifestyle of the Savannah region over the next half century.
The factory’s physical address is traditionally rural Brian County, but the earthquake impact of the $7.599 billion investment has spread across Chatham, Effingham and Brook counties, spreading throughout the state.
According to the Hyundai contract, the company is committed to an average annual salary of $58,105. In 2023, Hyundai Motor Company announced it had pledged to raise its salary by 25% in a few years.
“With 8,500 employees, it drives about $5 billion worth of salaries through the economy,” said Michael Toma, a professor of economics in Fuller E. Callaway at Georgia Southern University.
The deal Hyundai signed to acquire the property tax relief for 27 years includes capital commitments and creating around 8,500 direct jobs, but indirect positions, including LG’s joint venture EV battery facilities and 18 Hyundai suppliers committed to moving into the region, are expected to reach around 38,000 statewide over the next decade.
While it is impossible to fully predict the extent of change coming, the fact that HMGMA has moved from an announcement to actual production within two years indicates the speed at which communities near the factory must adjust and prepare for the future.
And what Georgians are now watching is just the beginning.
At the epicenter: What is available for the Northern Brian County lifestyle?
The near-sized HMGMA on Tybee Island sits on nearly 3,000 acres where mostly planted pine trees were planted before development. Even with the property tax reduction, once initial construction is completed, it is expected that Vlorem property tax payments will be paid from 2026 to 2026. But even now, before the first of these dollars began to enter, the factory already has changed the fabrics of local residents who are used to short commutes and quiet neighborhoods.
“Working 8,500 people in one location is roughly the same kind as a small city, which means there is a wider opportunity for people to work and engage in Hyundai,” Toma said. “They don’t have all people on the ground. There are many other things people can do there, and as a result, there is an opportunity for offsite commercial activities to serve those individuals.
Brian, Brook, Chatham, Effingham and Liberty counties are each within a 60-mile radius of their plants and are already beginning to see a significant increase in growth. But the north side of Brian County is the epicenter of most transformative change.
“We’re talking about developing the electric vehicle industry from scratch from nothing, including a complete supply chain,” Toma said. “We rarely support the electric vehicle industry. As workers spend their income in the local economy, we support additional work in grocery stores, malls, dry cleaners and other locations.”
The traffic volume on the horizon, the size and enormous volume of the house are unprecedented in that part of the region.
“We’ve seen a lot of people who have had a lot of trouble with us,” said Paige Clayton, assistant professor at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech. “Perhaps it will attract people from other regions (people) who view this as their opportunity. So they will probably be a constraint on the current housing structure. People will probably commute quite a bit until supply reaches demand.”
Clayton said there is a lot to develop areas with two lane roads, farms and cattle.
“The city’s exterior will change to some extent, but I think it’s very positive,” Clayton said. “I don’t think it’s going to be very urban. I don’t think nature will change, at least in the short term.”
Known as a historic railway town, Pembroke City is just eight miles from HMGMA. Clayton said there could be more commercial growth, including nail salons, doctors’ offices and dining locations. It takes a lot of planning to ensure that the town’s historic features like Pembroke are preserved, she said.
“People who work in urban design and planning think about the image and feel of space and try to make it appealing,” Clayton said. “I think there’s a need for further planning efforts to make sure Pembroke retains its appeal as a rural area. People are often really fascinated. I think more people are seeing more benefits not only in the small rural lifestyle, but also in the benefits of larger industries going forward.”
HMGMA is expected to hire 8,500 workers by 2030. With all these families in mind, Pembroke approved an additional rezoning of 3,000 homes. This means that everything from broadband to water and sewerage needs to have new infrastructure.
Infrastructure around megasites precedes population growth
Road improvements to support travel between and around Metaplant, including five roundabouts and a new interchange at I-16, totalling more than $180 million.
But how much of the infrastructure that supports the coming growth will cost taxpayers?
Toma explained that no one would “have a free lunch,” but Clayton said it would be difficult to identify services that local taxpayers are directly responsible for.
“It’s an exciting development, but they’re going to be some growing pains,” Clayton said. “We haven’t seen exactly what they are and where Pembroke’s sticking point is, but I think there are plenty of opportunities for current residents to try to capitalize on in terms of increased pain.”
The road with the entrance between I-16 and HMGMA is complete. Currently, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is stepping up road improvements, one of the state’s largest projects. Construction of five roundabouts is underway along 280 US stretches between the interstate central entrance to the north and the Hyundai plant entrance to the south.
The new interchange at the intersection of I-16 and Old Cuyler Road is expected to begin in the third quarter of this year and will consist of three multi-lane roundabouts.
According to GDOT, the project has reached $187.3 million in road improvements.
Brian County Schools are investing millions in new schools
Some local schools had already seen growth before Hyundai’s announcement two years ago. Now, thousands of new jobs will appear online in factories over the next few years, with many of their suppliers, and those institutions are preparing for an even larger influx of students.
The Brian County School District has invested more than $200 million in new schools in the north and south ends of the county.
The new Richmond Hill High School, which is under construction and is set to open this fall, will cost $97 million. Another $35 million will be spent on school athletic facilities.
Brian County High School will cost $90 million, according to the school’s website.
The factory is already stimulating investment and driving change in workforce training. In 2024, the Savannah Economic Development Agency (SEDA) created the Reginal Industry Support Enterprise (RISE) to address the manufacturing recruitment needs brought about by the industry boom and the needs of a robust manufacturing workforce.
Georgia’s Quick Start Program, a division of Georgia’s technical college system, is paid by Georgia taxpayers and is currently partnering with HMGMA to provide training to all Hyundai employees.
Training will take place at two separate quickstart facilities, Port City Logistics in Port Wentworth and Puller QuickStart Advanced Manufacturing. The second of these facilities is scheduled for $10.6 million state-funded expansion and construction, and is currently underway at the HMGMA-specialized Quick Start Hyundai Mobility Training Center and the $62.5 million state-funded facility.
Brian County taxpayers to fund a new prison
Not all aspects of what residents have to pay are known at this time, but one thing is for sure. As more people move into the area, they tend to pose other problems.
Taxpayers could quickly draft bills to build a new prison, but the county could cost between $7.5 million and $100 million, according to Brian County spokesman Nicholas Beard.
In a previous interview, Sheriff Mark Crow told Savannah Morning News that he is concerned about the next growth. The city of Pembroke has approved up to 3,000 homes, and at the southern tip of the county, the Heartwood community is hoping to see 10,000 homes in full build.
“All of these people who come from these other counties to work at Hyundai influence us,” Crow said. “Everyone who moves I-16 and I-95 up and down will have an impact on us. We need to keep up with that growth rate by adding more agents each year, making sure we get more vehicles and get more trained accordingly.”
Brian County did not respond to requests for an interview with county manager Ben Taylor.
Knees deep in the river
The development of the Metaplant (which threatens lawsuits, allows challenges, and unsettling elections at the local level remains a controversial issue. A local agreement between Brian County and neighboring Brook County has led to four wells being drilled in the agricultural community of Bruch, allowing 6.65 million gallons of untouched drinking and agricultural water to be pumped daily from the Florida aquifer. The remaining 2.65 million gallons are pumped to supply the growth and development projected in Northern Brian County.
To address the concerns, the state created a pool funded in comparable parts by Bulloch and Bryan and Hyundai metaprons to “address potential significant impacts” on private wells within a five-mile radius of the new withdrawal site. And recently, the state approved $505 million for a comprehensive plan to address water infrastructure needs across the coastal empire.
Production and infrastructure is underway, and there is only one more thing left for HMGMA to build its workforce.
Behind the Handle: A four-part series on drives to build modern workforce
In anticipation of the opening of Metaplant on Wednesday, March 26th, Savannah Morning News Education and Workforce Development Reporter Joseph Schwarzbert has created a four-part series that provides a detailed analysis of employment status.
March 26th:
Coming on Thursday, March 27th:
Part 3: Hyundai celebrates opening of Brian County Metaplant Part 4: Workforce Training Quick Start 5: How Recruitment Efforts are Increasing
