Alabama gives authority to close Hyundai deal

Posted 11:54AM on Thursday 11th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A state board has given Gov. Don Siegelman and his finance director the power to close the deal that brings Hyundai Motor Co.'s first U.S. plant to Alabama. The Alabama Public School and College Authority voted Thursday to allow Siegelman to represent the state when the official agreement with Hyundai is signed next week. "This is just to make sure I had the authority to commit the state," Siegelman said after the meeting. "This is the safety net for the execution of the contract." The Authority also voted to authorize Finance Director Henry Mabry to proceed with issuing $118 million in bonds for training facilities for Hyundai workers, he said. Siegelman said he's had people come up to him and ask about getting jobs at the new Hyundai plant when it's built. "I'm trying to teach people it's pronounced 'Hyundai' like 'Sunday,' but however you say it, it means thousands and thousands of new jobs," Siegelman said. The Authority is made up of Siegelman, Mabry and state Superintendent Ed Richardson. Hyundai announced last week it would build the $1 billion plant south of Montgomery. It is expected to employ about 2,000 people and produce 300,000 vehicles a year by 2005. Siegelman and Mabry said they've worked out all the details necessary to finalize the agreement that will bring Hyundai's manufacturing facility to Montgomery. The only technicality left is "what we want for dinner" when Hyundai Chairman Mong Koo Chung and President D.J. Kim arrive in Montgomery over the weekend. Groundbreaking at the 1,650-acre site of rural pasture land on Interstate 65 on the southern edge of Montgomery will be held Tuesday. The formal agreement between the state of Alabama and Hyundai will be signed sometime before then. "We've based the whole incentives package on meeting Hyundai's needs," Mabry said.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196157