$223M magnet manufacturing facility is headed for Columbus
The U.S. subsidiary of a Korean magnet manufacturer will invest $223 million into building its first U.S. facility in Columbus.
JS Link America will build a rare earth magnet manufacturing facility by 2027, according to a news release from Gov. Brian Kemp. The facility will create more than 520 jobs in Muscogee County.
The average wages will total $89,000 per year, said Missy Kendrick, the president and CEO of economic development arm Choose Columbus.
In a statement, JS Link America’s CEO Jun Lee said the company plans to be a part of a value chain focused “entirely on Western nations to meet the growing demand for permanent magnets sourced from strategic allies such as Korea.”
Rare earth magnets are a type of permanent magnet, and permanent magnets are a critical component in a number of industries — such as automobiles, wind turbines, elevators and data centers. They’re used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics and defense systems. Global demand for strong rare earth permanent magnets is expected to more than double by 2035, according to metal and mineral research firm Adamas Intelligence.
China has long dominated rare earth magnet production. In recent years, the United States’ dependence on China has been viewed as a national security issue. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been pumped into building production facilities and supporting a domestic critical mineral and rare earth supply chain.
This dominance has given China leverage in trade talks with the U.S. After threats of escalating tariffs, President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month extending a trade truce between the two companies until Nov. 10.
Spanning 130,000 square feet across 35 acres, JS Link America’s Columbus facility will have an annual production capacity of 3,000 tons, equivalent to hundreds of millions of magnets annually.
JS Link has room to grow, Kendrick said, and they have plans to expand once they get the facility up and running.
In the statement, Lee said Georgia’s economic development team, Georgia Power and leaders in Columbus welcomed JS Link with a “pro-business approach.” Engineering programs at Georgia’s universities also proved attractive to the company.
Columbus has one of the largest Korean populations in Georgia. The city has made an effort to attract Korean businesses, Kendrick said. It appointed a Korean-speaking liaison to work with companies moving here and translated its website into Korean.
“With putting all these things in place, it set the table for JS Link to come and join us,” Kendrick said.
JS Link will hire for engineering, production, construction, administrative and management roles, according to the release.
About the Author
Savannah Sicurella is an entertainment business reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
