Several Jackson Alliance Members recently attended an exclusive Meet-and-Greet with Mr. Yunu Chang, a member of SK Battery America’s local “Battery Project Management Unit.” Yunu’s background is in civil engineering and he has quite a bit of experience working major construction projects. Many Jackson Alliance Members that attended the event are from the private-sector in real estate development, so there was a lot of good conversation.
Yunu was gracious enough to answer questions about the SK Battery America Project and even give some advice on doing business with Korean based companies…
“Koreans like to have all the details, organized on a one-page spreadsheet so they can see everything at once and make the best decision. If you’re working with a Korean company, provide as much details as possible.”
Project Hercules
Yunu has worked on the SK Battery Project from the very first visit SK Innovation’s site selection team made to Jackson County, Georgia in late 2018. At that time, the SK Battery America Project was code named “Project Hercules” Several of the Jackson Alliance Members at the Meet-and-Greet actually helped Jackson County land Project Hercules. Here’s the role they played…
- Precision Planning, Inc. provided the official cost estimate for grading SK’s site in Commerce, GA. Even without all the information and a very short turnaround time, Precision Planning’s estimate was incredibly precise. Precision Planning estimated site grading would cost $6.7 million; the actual cost is $6.8 million!
- Thomas & Hutton worked with Jackson County’s economic development team during the initial negotiations held with SK. The big question that had to be answered was whether or not Jackson County’s site could meet SK’s needs. Thomas & Hutton provided high-quality site layouts and engineering files that had all the details SK’s engineers needed to make a decision. Thomas & Hutton provided us with what we needed within a few hours or by the next business day. Their quick work and thorough attention to detail kept Jackson County from being eliminated.
- Herc Rentals supplies industrial equipment and provided SK Battery America with quite a bit of gear such as heaters and lighting, for the Groundbreaking Ceremony for SK Battery America in Commerce, GA in early 2019.
- HEMI Systems, Heavy Equipment Movers & Installation is Jackson County, GA based business that has helped numerous manufacturers in the region get set up and running. As a new Jackson Alliance Member, HEMI Systems attended the Meet-and-Greet.
- BCG Consulting also attended the Meet-and-Greet.
Introduction to Southern BBQ
One of the most popular dishes from Korea is “Bulgogi.” Bulgogi is “Korean Beef BBQ” and is a lot of fun to say. Barbecue just happens to be one of the most popular dishes from the Southern United States, so we took the opportunity to share this delicacy with our special guest. Stonewall’s BBQ in Braselton certainly left everyone impressed.
A Growing Alliance
In addition to getting to meet Yunu, attendees got to meet one another and make some new connections. John Scott, the Director of Economic Development for Jackson County stated the following:
“All the economic growth and development taking place in Jackson County has resulted in a lot of growth for the Jackson Alliance. These types of casual networking events are a great way for our Members to meet one another. We’ll definitely do more of these in the future.”
Thank You SK Battery America
SK Innovation and SK Battery America have already shown on several occasions that they are committed to being a great community partner and will support Jackson County how ever they can. Special thanks to Yunu Chang for taking time out of his extremely busy day to join us for lunch!
Thank you to all the Jackson Alliance Members that made time to join us.
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