Governor Brian Kemp joined the Martha Zoller Show Thursday to reflect on Abit Massey, a recent trip to South Korea and economic development in Northeast Georgia.
Kemp discussed the memorial for Massey held on Monday in Gainesville.
“It was a great tribute, I think probably the best line that I stole from Governor Deal about Abit was he was the best Georgia Governor we never had,” Kemp said.
Kemp said Massey was loved by Republicans and Democrats alike.
“The rotary tribute a few weeks ago, where you had, myself, Governor Deal, Governor Barnes, and then Chancellor Perdue, our former governor, all did tributes for him at that event,” Kemp said. “Republicans and Democrats and it really spoke to his passion for Gainesville and Hall County, for the poultry industry, but also for our state universities, just so many things that cut across the political divide. And he was so well respected from both sides of the aisle. And I think that was certainly prevalent at the memorial service the other day.”
Kemp talked about his second trip to South Korea.
“One of the big announcements we have done up in the Hall County area was CJ Foodville, just an incredible company and their presence is going to grow not only in Georgia but across the United States. So that's a big win for Hall County,” Kemp said. “It was just a great trip, we also met with some prospects over there that we are very high on and really down to probably the last two or three states that they are considering. And so it was really a timely trip for us. Not only say thank you to over 120 Korean companies that are doing business in Georgia, and literally hiring 10s of 1000s of our people and putting a lot of our contractors to work but also to work on new deals for the future.”
The governor discussed the growth seen throughout northeast Georgia over recent years.
“We have averaged about five projects a year in the Hall County area since I've been governor, and that's off of the heels of, just the tremendous things that Governor Deal announced while he was in office, especially coming out of the Great Recession, when we all got elected on the statewide ticket in 2010,” Kemp said. “Growing jobs and getting our economy back going was the number one issue by far in that campaign.”
Kemp gave an update on the Rivian manufacturing plant being built in Georgia after Volkwagon invested $1 billion into Rivian.
“We are in conversations with them to better understand how that relationship will be and what that means for the Georgia site. I'm hopeful that we'll know more in the next couple of weeks,” Kemp said “They still have told us that they are committed to building on the Georgia site. We have a commitment to them, and we are honoring that until that changes that is going to continue to be our position.”
Rivian recently maintained its commitment to build the plant in Social Circle.
Click play on the audio above to hear the full interview with Governor Brian Kemp on WDUN's "The Martha Zoller Show"
