Lucille Lannigan, Regional Growth and Development Reporter

ELLABELL – Workers at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America can now do their personal banking while at work as the metaplant oversaw the grand opening of its new on-site banking branch Thursday.

HMGMA partnered with BankSouth, a Georgia-based bank that’s served the Savannah area since 2002, to provide a BankSouth branch exclusively for Meta Pros, or Metaplant workers. Those workers can now conduct transactions, open accounts, seek out loans and participate in financial literacy courses at the branch, located in the Metaplant’s cafeteria.

“The best part is they never ever have to leave the metaplant to do this,” Laura Moore, BankSouth Savannah's regional market president, said.

Brent Stubbs, HMGMA’s chief administrative officer, said the bank is prepared to serve the roughly 1,500 Meta Pros, and the “many more thousands” expected to eventually work at the site. It’s an optional convenience which HMGMA is trying to provide as many amenities as possible to its employees, Stubbs said.

“They can sit down after work or lunch and talk about a mortgage, talk about car loans,” Stubbs said. “Our employees, for example, have access to a program called the Circle program where they can buy discounted Hyundai vehicles at an employee pricing. Combine that with Bank South and now you have access to the loans that you might need for that.”

He emphasized the access to education services as a key part of the partnership. The on-site branch is part of the broader “BankSouth@Work initiative”, which focuses on delivering financial solutions, educational resources and local relationship-based service to employees and partners.

“A part of their financial growth is financial wellness,” Stubbs said. “So many of our team members are getting jobs and making more money than they've ever made in their life. It's not just access to banking, checking, and savings. It's access to the education services that BankSouth is willing to provide both here at the branch and in our training center so that our employees want to make good decisions with their income.”

BankSouth was chosen because of its longstanding presence within the community, Stubbs said.

“Hyundai is a very large company, and HMGMA has made this kind of massive impact on the region,” he said. “We recognize that what makes this community special is things that were already here like BankSouth.”

BankSouth has been serving Georgia for more than half a century but Harold Reynolds, its chairman and CEO, said the HMGMA branch is a new venture for the organization.

The partnership required BankSouth to adapt its operations to meet employees’ needs, combining digital banking with the ability to open accounts and fund loans quickly during limited time windows.

The bank emphasized flexibility and responsiveness, particularly for Meta Pros who may only have a short break to handle financial matters, Reynolds said. BankSouth already had five ATMS across the metaplant campus, and now there will be full-time staff within the branch.

“It’s getting that in-person relationship and not just being a digital relationship,” he said. “We think that’s important and Hyundai does too.”

The BankSouth branch is just one addition to a growing list of on-site amenities available to the Meta Pros. The 3,000-acre site now has on-site medical services through a partnership with St. Joseph’s/Candler as well as a cafeteria, food delivery services and a workwear shop. The site also has its own water tower and just acquired a new fire truck on site for its 24/7 emergency response team.

A large ecological park is in the works at the front of the metaplant, Stubbs said, explaining that it will one day be a place where employees can connect with nature. 

And, a future exhibition hall will become a tourist destination for visitors to experience “nature, humanity and robotics working in harmony,” Stubbs said.

“All of that sounds like a city,” said Stubbs. “But, people live in amazing cities around this community, and we know that this simply fuels that life. So if we can make it easier for our employees to enjoy their lives in Pooler, Statesboro, Savannah, Richmond Hill, wherever they live, then we really take that responsibility on.”

Lucille Lannigan is a Regional Growth and Development Reporter with the Bryan County News. Reach her at llannigan@morrisnews.com.