Nice write up on LaGrange

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by columbuskidd92

kuddos to the columbus chamber of commerce for landing kia in west point.

What?!

This would be like saying, "Kudos to the Coweta County Chamber of Commerce for landing the Pinewood Atlanta Movie Studios in Fayette County."

Dumb.

Seriously, I was the news editor at the Opelika-Auburn News in 2006 when we were the FIRST news outlet IN THE UNITED STATES to report that Kia was coming to Georgia. Let me repeat that: The OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS was the FIRST MEDIA OUTLET IN THE UNITED STATES to report that Kia Motors was scouting for property to build a plant in Troup County in West Point. We scooped the Columbus media, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and even the LaGrange Daily News.

I accidently stumbled upon the tip while doing an unrelated Google search, and immediately had a reporter call the mayor of West Point and community leaders in Troup County to find out if it were true. Their response: "How did you find out about this?" The KIA plant was THAT big of a secret ... HUGE secret. Even the landowners along I-85 in West Point who were under top-secret negotiations to sell their property to for the development didn't know all that was going on. Suffice it to say, Columbus and Muscogee County officials may have had an inkling that something BIG was brewing in Troup County ... but you can trust me on this, they had little to nothing to do with the final decision by KIA.

The stuff you're referencing came later, as every surrounding Tom, Dick and Harry government tried to find ways to capitalize on the project and make their own financial well-being look better locally. That's typical of these kinds of huge projects.

And the fact remains, just as Saint Marks indicated, that Troup County is NOT part of the Columbus MSA or CSA, and any spillover effect from KIA on Columbus is scant at best, at least at this point. The West Georgia / East Alabama region has benefited greatly, and the state as a whole. But saying this was a huge "win" for Columbus BY Columbus is really, really grasping at straws.

[Saintmarks]

Columbuskidd, look at my link to Meriwether County. The industrial park they built off of 85 and GA 54 has nabbed 4 Kia suppliers. Perhaps some have gone to Columbus, but seems most are staying closer to the plant.

Technically the plant is in neither West Point or LaGrange, unless West Point sent a sliver of its city limits up 85 and annexed it. It is truthfully between LaGrange and West Point, but it is slightly closer to West Point and has a West Point mailing address.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

What?!

This would be like saying, "Kudos to the Coweta County Chamber of Commerce for landing the Pinewood Atlanta Movie Studios in Fayette County."

Dumb.

Seriously, I was the news editor at the Opelika-Auburn News in 2006 when we were the FIRST news outlet IN THE UNITED STATES to report that Kia was coming to Georgia. Let me repeat that: The OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS was the FIRST MEDIA OUTLET IN THE UNITED STATES to report that Kia Motors was scouting for property to build a plant in Troup County in West Point. We scooped the Columbus media, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and even the LaGrange Daily News.

I accidently stumbled upon the tip while doing an unrelated Google search, and immediately had a reporter call the mayor of West Point and community leaders in Troup County to find out if it were true. Their response: "How did you find out about this?" The KIA plant was THAT big of a secret ... HUGE secret. Even the landowners along I-85 in West Point who were under top-secret negotiations to sell their property to for the development didn't know all that was going on. Suffice it to say, Columbus and Muscogee County officials may have had an inkling that something BIG was brewing in Troup County ... but you can trust me on this, they had little to nothing to do with the final decision by KIA.

The stuff you're referencing came later, as every surrounding Tom, Dick and Harry government tried to find ways to capitalize on the project and make their own financial well-being look better locally. That's typical of these kinds of huge projects.

And the fact remains, just as Saint Marks indicated, that Troup County is NOT part of the Columbus MSA or CSA, and any spillover effect from KIA on Columbus is scant at best, at least at this point. The West Georgia / East Alabama region has benefited greatly, and the state as a whole. But saying this was a huge "win" for Columbus BY Columbus is really, really grasping at straws.

This is my understanding of how the plant came to be from every source I have back home. Columbuskidd, I appreciate your love for your city, but such devotion is clouding reason.

And to the broader sense that LaGrange is tied to Columbus, sorry, it ain't so. Even though it was equidistant to Atlanta or Columbus from Hogansville, I rarely went to Columbus. In fact other than yearbook workshop held at Hardaway HS and region games against Pacelli and Brookstone, I rarely went to Columbus for anything. The most time I spent in Columbus was passing through on the way to Panama City.

Even my friends from LaGrange which is 12 miles closer (and thus 12 miles further from Atlanta) than Hogansville rarely went to Columbus for anything. With so much suburban retail in Coweta now, I would suspect the reason to travel to Columbus is even less these days.