SCDA working on MOU with SungEel

By Jessica Waters

Stephens County is one step closer to adding another international company to its roster of industrial/manufacturing facilities in the Haystone Brady Business Park.

At the May 17 Stephens County Development Authority meeting, a motion was approved to authorize the SCDA chairman to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Korean lithium-ion battery recycling company SungEel HighTech.

SCDA President and CEO Brittany Ivey told WNEG that they are currently working to bring the community’s MOU in line with the MOU that SungEel has already signed with the State of Georgia.

She said, “We are in negotiations still for our MOU with SungEel. That is just our Memorandum of Understanding that includes our incentives, and their commitment to the community as far as job creation and the timeline for that, and the timeline for their investments. So they’ve already signed (an MOU) with the state, and its just easier for the state and for the company and the community if those match.”

The MOU between SungEel and the State of Georgia, signed April 17 of this year, stipulates that a “REBA Grant in the amount of $700,000 will be awarded to SungEel through the Stephens County Development Authority.”

REBA Grant funding comes from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and according to GDCA documentation, “REBA is an incentive program that is used to help ‘close the deal’ when companies are considering Georgia and another state or country for their location or expansion. REBA funds may be used to finance various fixed-asset needs of a company including infrastructure, real estate acquisition, construction, or machinery and equipment.”

Ivey explained that the only time the state is legally allowed to offer incentives for project is when the company in question is also considering location in at least one other state.

Local incentives included in the MOU between the SCDA and SungEel will not be made public until after the MOU is signed by both parties. However, Ivey said that the SungEel facility, which will operate under the name SungEel Recycling Park Georgia, LLC, will be very beneficial to the community in a number of ways.

She said, “One thing that has changed since 2017 when our last major international company came here, which was NIFCO, KTW, is that then, we were not really selling land to get companies to come to our community, we were giving it away. With SungEel, we’ve asked for full price for the land in Haystone Brady, so that’s a big deal. Right now, if the MOU stays the same, it will put them on the tax digest within the first two years of operation here, which is great for our community.”

Ivey said that the additional jobs the project will bring to the community is also a benefit to the Stephens County community, and mentioned that the company has “higher than average wages.”

An August, 2022 press release from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stated “Lithium-ion battery recycler and raw materials provider SungEel Recycling Park Georgia, LLC., will locate its first U.S. recycling facility in Georgia. A subsidiary of the Korea-based global industry leader SungEel HiTech Co., Ltd., the company will invest more than $37 million in the new facility and create 104 jobs in Stephens County.”

Ivey said that the SCDA has been working on bringing this facility to Stephens County since November of 2021. After a site visit to the Haystone Brady Business Park and the Toccoa/Stephens County community by SungEel company representatives, a contract was signed for the company to purchase Haystone Brady lots 3 and 4, behind the NIFCO KTW facility and next to the SKAPS building on Haystone Brady Road, according to Ivey, who explained that the lots were chosen by the company because they were “pad ready” and already had sewer utility access, which will result in a quicker project completion timeline than the undeveloped parcels the company was first considering.

The SungEel facility will be part of the company’s electric vehicle supply chain, according to a statement by company executives.

The Governor’s press release explained, “SungEel HiTech’s entry into Georgia is the last piece of the puzzle to build a sustainable ecosystem of Georgia’s electric vehicle supply chain,” said Suk Jae Yim, Representative of SungEel Recycling Park Georgia. “SungEel Recycling Park Georgia will conduct its full responsibility to build a U.S. eco-friendly industrial ecosystem in line with the expectations of the State of Georgia and Stephens County.”

More details on the pending MOU and the SungEel project is available at wnegradio.com. WNEG will continue to follow this story as it develops and will report on details of the MOU between the SCDA and SungEel once the document is signed and made public.