Peach County leaders react to $4B Audi plant coming to GA

We got a pretty big piece of news in that Audi is bringing its first ever U.S. manufacturing plant here to Georgia and specifically to middle Georgia. Brianna Sheffield at 41 NBC has been reporting on this development and joins us live to talk about it. So, Brianna, it is so good to see you. Thank you so much for joining us from your studios there at 41 NBC. I'd love to get some of the reaction as you've been speaking with people there in Peach County, middle Georgia. How are they taking this announcement? What's kind of the big positives that they're highlighting? Absolutely. So I want to start off with good afternoon to everyone who's watching. But this so far has been a positive response that I have heard back from the community and some community leaders. This morning, I did attend a press conference in Peach County where a few commissioners kind of gave some update on what they know so far. like you said this is new so there are only so many details but we do know that it will be coming to the Peach County area it will this new investment will be around four billion dollars to build its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Peach County the facility is expected to create about 4,500 jobs which is so great for Peach County and the middle Georgia area in a whole and eventually produce up to 200,000 vehicles a year and like i said before that production of This is still being written now. There's still some nicks and crannies that they have to work through because this is just a new announcement. But the impact could start much sooner with workforce training and local technology, technical colleges helping prepare people for and students for future jobs. Now, the mega site is located one point five miles east on Highway 96 of the city of Fort Valley, which is only five miles from the interstate, which is a great area, which is one of the main reasons why they wanted to put this plant in the Peach County area because of so much land and so much accessibility that those that will be working there will have to get back and forth to home. Another great thing about this Audi plant coming to the Peach County area is high school students. I spoke with a CTAE director from Peach County High School, Brent Lamond, this morning, and he says this is great for high school students and college students to get those jobs right out of high school or right out of college. We are certainly hoping that this is going to be a catalyst for, it will be a catalyst for growth in Peach County. And we're going to, as we add students and are able to add programs, of course, Audi and our local businesses are going to have a strong influence on what we add because we're preparing their workforce. Absolutely. And he also tells me that those students will be learning robotics, automotive technology and engineering. Just great for those students and those college students. Beach County has Fort Valley State University down there for those students as well. When they get out of college, they can have a guaranteed job Also, another great thing about this is those commissioners said this morning that Beach County has a three point nine unemployment rate right now. And that's not so great for them. So they are looking forward to this new facility, bringing in more jobs for people. They can get out the house and get those schools, each county residents Brianna, very exciting news. I mean, you think about what an announcement like this does to a local economy and the fact that now entire high schools and colleges are looking at how to build courses for those who might want to work at this new plant. It's just so exciting. And I have to say, I was curious as to how Georgia even got this first U.S. manufacturing plant in the first place. Bear with me here. I looked online and there's reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talking about how it all started with a cold call. Governor Brian Kemp actually was reading a business publication, according to their reporting, that talked about how Audi wanted to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility. And that set off a two-year pursuit where Governor Kemp actually met with the head of Audi when he traveled to Germany back in February of 2025. They had kind of a secret meeting. It wasn't a splashy sales pitch. It wasn't a lot of bells and whistles. And I guess the governor recalled that the executives barely spoke. But clearly an impression was made because now this news and Peach County and Macon are going to get this incredible job creator in their area. So, Brianna, thank you so much for reporting live for us, bringing us what you know there from Middle Georgia. I appreciate your time. I know you've got a story you're working on for later there for 41 NBC. So good thing that people can check out. And we'll see you again here for more conversations from Middle Georgia, I hope. And I'll bring you guys more dates as they come. Like I said, this is still being developed. But the more I hear, the more questions I ask. Excellent. Thank you so much. All right, Brianna, I'll let you get back to it.