Recruiting in China

By KEVIN DUFFY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 09/12/07

Georgia's business ties with the People's Republic of China grew a little stronger Wednesday.

The state and Sany Heavy Industry Co. of Changsha, China, formally announced that the maker of construction equipment will open a plant in Peachtree City and create 200 jobs.

Sany will invest $30 million in land, buildings and equipment. Operations at the 241-acre site are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2009.

Sany is the third Chinese company in 15 months to announce it will do business in Georgia.

Hans Gant, senior vice president for economic development at the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, said Sany is the biggest recruitment success so far because in 10 years its work force could grow to 600 and its investment to $100 million.

Sany makes concrete-pumping equipment. Two examples of what it produces, extending 121 feet in the air, were parked in front of the Capitol during the announcement.

Sany Group, the parent company, employs 18,000 people and sells in more than 60 countries. Company Chairman Liang Wengen, who was at the ceremony, is a billionaire, according to Forbes magazine.

"What won the deal is just we wanted the business," Gant said.

Financial incentives played a role. Sany will receive declining property tax abatements over 10 years that will save the company an estimated $2.2 million, according to Matthew Forshee, president and chief executive of the Fayette County Development Authority. During that time, Sany will pay about $2.75 million in property taxes, Forshee said.

In addition, Peachtree City will chip in $50,000 and Fayette County $150,000 to help Sany buy its industrial park site, priced at $6.5 million.

The state Department of Community Affairs will make available a $900,000 Regional Economic Business Assistance grant.

The Georgia Economic Development Department and the metro chamber have been building relationships with Chinese businesses and government officials for several years.

"It hasn't happened by accident," Gov. Sonny Perdue told the audience. "We've been in Asia and China looking for relationships and partnerships."

The state recently began operating a one-person office in Beijing, and it's lobbying China to open a consulate in Atlanta. Delta Air Lines is trying to secure direct flights from Atlanta to Beijing and to Shanghai.

In June 2006, the business recruiting trips began to pay off. Kingwasong, which makes soy sauce, announced it would invest $12 million to $15 million in a new plant in Newnan, creating 200 jobs. In May, a second Chinese business, General Protecht Group, which makes electronic equipment, bought 211 acres in Barnesville to build a plant.

In his translated remarks to the crowd, Liang mentioned Georgia's airports, roads, ports ¡ª even its trees ¡ª as he explained why his company chose the state.

He called it "the outstanding talents in the blessed land."