Gov. Brian Kemp’s budget proposal includes $125 million for land and training costs for the $5 billion Rivian plant, part of an economic development incentive package that’s expected to be the largest in Georgia history.
While the full details of the incentive package are still under wraps, Kemp’s spending blueprint calls for $112 million for land acquisition and development at the sprawling East Atlanta Mega Site.
An additional $6.2 million would finance the design of a Quick Start training and recruitment facility, modeled after the center that the state operates at the Kia Motors plant in West Point.
About $5.4 million would go toward “customized training and recruitment operations” to bolster the state’s growing electric-vehicle industry. And roughly $550,000 would fund two positions in the state Department of Economic Development to support Rivian’s project.
That’s just a part of the overall package that helped the state land Rivian, which promises to bring at least 7,500 well-paying jobs at the plant and generate thousands of spinoff positions.
Beyond tax breaks and abatements, which will account for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentives, the package is said to also involve infrastructure improvements that could include a new interchange on I-20.
Specially designed high school courses will also be set up for students seeking careers in the industry. And legislators are likely to debate significant changes designed to bolster Rivian and other electric-vehicle manufacturers.
State economic development officials have not yet disclosed the details of the package, which is set to be released within weeks. But senior officials say it will far surpass the more than $400 million that Georgia offered Kia to win a smaller project in West Point.
