With construction of the new Kia manufacturing plant under way in West Point, Carroll County is examining ways in which it could possibly benefit from the project.

The $1.2 billion investment by Kia in Troup County has the potential of creating 2,600 to 2,900 new jobs, and the plant plans to hire suppliers within a 50-mile radius of its location. But with Carroll County on the edge of this radius, an hour away, a Carroll Tomorrow official said Kia would probably be inclined to seek suppliers in closer range to the plant.

“For just-in-time (operations), suppliers need to be closely integrated (to the plant),” said Slater Barr, president and chief executive officer of Carroll Tomorrow. “Get out a map and find West Point, draw a line to Carrollton, and make a big circle. That will tell you all the communities we’re competing against (as suppliers). Most of them are located in close radius to the plant, and a lot of them are in Alabama.”

While location is not desirable, Barr said Carroll County is in the situation of being a strong labor market for potential suppliers to Kia. By being located farther away, he said Carroll would provide a fresh pool of workers for competing suppliers.

“A labor force is a concern of (suppliers),” Barr said. “So if we can find a supplier that can stand being farther away, we may be a good option because we’re in a different labor market. In other words, they don’t have to compete within the same labor market of 1,000 or so workers.”

As far as landing a supplier in the county, Barr said the chances look bleak. With most prospects requesting a minimum of 100 acres in an industrial park, Carroll County’s parks come up short.

“We don’t have many large sites in our industrial park,” Barr said. “We do well for 25-acre sites, but you need road access, water and sewer, and (flat land.) Put all of this together and the cost for it, and we rapidly narrow down our options.”

In March, the Carrollton City Council approved $200,000 in 2003 SPLOST funds for the Carrollton Payroll Development Authority -- owner of the Plowshare Road Industrial Site -- to clear trees and provide erosion control to portions of the park. Drawings for the improvements have just been completed, and Barr hopes to collect bids for the work shortly.

“It would definitely help,” Barr said. “But there’s about a total of 75 acres on that site, and I’d say we’d get between 45 to 50 acres from this.”

Site work at the Kia plant’s location has been completed, and the roadwork has started. Alison Tyrer, senior communications specialist for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said construction will soon follow.

“We’re still on schedule, and construction can start any day now,” Tyrer said. “We’re pursuing suppliers right now, and everything’s on track.”

Tyrer did not comment on the locations of potential suppliers.

“We have a great community for a narrow segment of the suppliers, but we’re more limited from the site perspective,” Barr said. “But we’re definitely in the mix, we just don’t know if we can land anything.”