Reports published Monday morning say Hyundai, parent company of Korean automaker Kia Motors, is negotiating with state officials to put a Kia factory at the Bryan County Mega-Site in Black Creek.

A story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and reports by Reuters say the factory could mean up to 8,500 jobs.

Anna Chafin, CEO of the Development Authority, declined to comment Monday.

“We do not comment on speculation,” she said in an email.

Bryan County Commission Chairman Carter Infinger also declined to comment on what he also called speculation. 

The state paid $61 million for the 2,284-acre site in 2021 and said it was the largest land purchase in Georgia history. Bryan County provided $9 million toward the purchase, funding the purchase through DABC land sales and payment in lieu of tax agreements with local industries.  

The state financed the purchase through the sale of land in Chatham County to Amazon, according to officials.

Chatham County also provided $9 million for the site, which will be managed by the I-16-Savannah Harbor Joint Development Authority – which consists of Bryan, Chatham, Effingham and Bulloch counties.

The Bryan County Mega-Site was first marketed to Volvo in 2015, and was one of two locations the Swedish automaker was considering at the time. It later chose a site in Charleston, S.C.   

More on this story to come.