Stephens County Closer to MOU with SungEel High Tech

Stephens County is one step closer to adding another international company to its roster of industrial/manufacturing facilities in the Haystone Brady Business Park.

At the May 17 Stephens County Development Authority meeting, a motion was approved to authorize the SCDA chairman to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Korean lithium-ion battery recycling company SungEel HighTech.

SCDA President and CEO Brittany Ivey said they are currently working to bring the community’s MOU in line with the MOU that SungEel has already signed with the State of Georgia.

The MOU between SungEel and the State of Georgia, signed April 17 of this year, stipulates that a “REBA Grant in the amount of $700,000 will be awarded to SungEel through the Stephens County Development Authority.”

REBA Grant funding comes from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and according to GDCA documentation, “REBA is an incentive program that is used to help ‘close the deal’ when companies are considering Georgia and another state or country for their location or expansion.

REBA funds may be used to finance various fixed-asset needs of a company including infrastructure, real estate acquisition, construction, or machinery and equipment.”

An August, 2022 press release from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stated “Lithium-ion battery recycler and raw materials provider SungEel Recycling Park Georgia, LLC., will locate its first U.S. recycling facility in Georgia.

A subsidiary of the Korea-based global industry leader SungEel HiTech Co., Ltd., the company will invest more than $37 million in the new facility and create 104 jobs in Stephens County.”

Ivey said that the SCDA has been working on bringing this facility to Stephens County since November of 2021.

After a site visit to the Haystone Brady Business Park and the Toccoa/Stephens County community by SungEel company representatives, a contract was signed for the company to purchase Haystone Brady lots 3 and 4, behind the NIFCO KTW facility and next to the SKAPS building on Haystone Brady Road, according to Ivey, who explained that the lots were chosen by the company because they were “pad ready” and already had sewer utility access, which will result in a quicker project completion timeline than the undeveloped parcels the company was first considering.

The SungEel facility will be part of the company’s electric vehicle supply chain, according to a statement by company executives.