The industrial property market, for lease and for sale in Louisiana, is only 10% of the entire commercial market, but bringing a new industry to your city can have an impact much greater than all other commercial sectors combined. But you don’t just put a sign up and wait for an industry to come to your city. They have to be wooed. This article explores the behind the scenes work to get an automaker to invest $5 billion in a small town and employ 8,000 workers at $58,000 salary. Plus benefits.
The work started 20 years ago when the Port Authority purchased 1,500 acres for $22 million to give to an automaker who would come to the area. The work continued when, in 2018, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp wanted to get an automaker to bring an electric vehicle manufacturer to town. So how did he do it? He went to Seoul, South Korea to meet the CEO of Hyundai.
Over the next 5 years, the terms of a deal were hammered out which involved senators for the state, economic development teams, city officials and the white house. The facility will be located near 150,000 population Savannah, Georgia, a touristy town and home of “The Big Chill”, but will be 16 million square feet under one roof with a 300,000-vehicle output per year plus a battery plant. Here were the freebies given to Hyundai as an incentive to come:
This isn’t the state’s first rodeo. They gave $450 million in incentives for a Kia plant in 2009, and $300 million in incentives for an electric vehicle battery plant that created 2,600 jobs. Why is this worth it? New industry creates jobs, which lowers the crime rate and funds the resources to hire more police and increase teacher pay.
Louisiana could be the kid to learn a lesson from Aaron Rogers. Rather than nickel and dime a developer for control over who a tenant would be, we need to realize we are competing against states that will give $86 million to purchase land and a building. Mississippi has a leg up with the Canton Nissan plant which brought a 95% increase in employment to Madison County. So how can real estate agents bring big industry to your city?
