Kia Conundrum

Now here is a story that has what we in the news business call legs, for many different reasons. If there is anything more important to people in this area than jobs, I'd be hard pressed to guess what it would be. And when it comes to jobs, Kia is the biggest of big fish out there. And everyone wants it.

In the last couple of days, we've seen a couple of other Mississippi cities throwing their names in the hat to try to land the plant. Yesterday, supervisors in Lowndes county voted on several million dollars in bonds to secure a site that a plant like Kia could be located on near Columbus. Today, Senator Trent Lott announced that the Tunica area had asked him to help market a tract of land they have as a possible Kia site. Earlier this year, Tupelo asked the legislature to help them buy land in that area on which and auto plant could be built. Sites in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas have also at one time been mentioned as possible sites for the plant.

Of course, that was all after the saga that was the courtship of Meridian by Kia. Where the Queen City stands right now is really anyone's guess. No one we've talked to thinks this area is out of the running by any stretch of the imagination, but the excitement that was there several months ago when it first came out that Kia was interested in this area is no longer there either.

Here's what we know. Kia isn't sure Meridian has the workforce to support a 2500 worker plant. Meridian officials say they have studies that show they could do just that. Winning that argument will probably be a key in trying to get the plant here.

Here are a couple of other keys we've been told will play a role.

1. Proximity - Kia wants to use their parent company Hyundai's supplier base that is already in place. That puts anyone close to Montgomery in the running. That certainly helps Meridian, but West Point, Georgia, is actually a little closer.

2. Incentives - This is what most experts really believe this is all going to come down to; who is willing to offer Kia the most money to come. Some believe that because Georgia has yet to land an auto plant, they might be willing to offer more than anyone else, so they can have that feather in their hat. But with incentives available to businesses in the hurricane zone because of the Gulf opportunity Act, it's likely Mississippi would be able to match anything Georgia was willing to offer. Both Meridian and Columbus are in the area considered the "hurricane zone."

Kia has been strangely quiet the last couple of months, especially so after they were so talkative about their plans last year. Right now, most experts believe they're laying low, checking out their options, and looking for the best deal. All indications are they'll have to make some kind of decision soon. Kia officials have seen the Kewanee site and talked to local economic development people, and that's something some of the other cities in the running have had trouble getting them to do. So that seems to be a good thing for this area.

If you're interesting in keeping up with the very latest information on this, I'll give you two places to look. Every morning when I get in, one of the first things I do is a google search for "Kia Plant Meridian." Often, especially when you search news, there will be new information from different parts of the country.

Another good source for information, one that google won't get, is the Korea Times. They are the newspaper that first broke the news of Kia's interest in Mississippi, and from time to time have news on the Korean owned company. They have an English-language site, so don't install the Korean language program.

We'll keep watching the story, and keep you updated as soon as we know something new.

That of course, is one of the stories we're working on tonight. Here are a couple of others.

1. Riley Center Update - Charles got a tour of the ongoing construction today. He'll show us what it looks like.
2. FEMA Trailers in Meridian - Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith requested 100 of those trailers for this area, but FEMA says they're not needed here.
3. Childhood obesity - A seminar today trying to combat this growing problem.
4. Diabetes - Andrea will have the final part of her series on this growing disease.

I can't promise I'll be able to update tomorrow. I have to go to Ellisville for a story with former federal Judge Charles Pickering tomorrow, so I may not have time. If I do, I'll drop a few lines, so check in.