Name of Business: Dongwon Autopart Technology Alabama, LLC.
Owners/Principals: International Corporation Charlie Kim, President; Mendy Reigel, Human Resources Manager
Location: 12970 Hwy. 331, North, Luverne, Alabama
Product: Automobile doorframes, side impact beams, cross bars side absorbers within the 60,000 square foot plant.
Start up: “Dongwon Autoparts is part of an expanding international company”, says Mendy Reigel, “and we’re looking for the right place to build this facility in a 32-mile proximity as a supplier to Hyundai. With the capability of supplying a good labor pool, Luverne provided the opportunity to meet our employment needs.
We opened in 2004 with 15 employees, and now have 205. Currently, we are still in the hiring process, and wish to add 40 employees by August”.
Highlights: The international company, whose 2006 sales figures reported in at over $217 Billion worldwide, operates in six countries. Its principal activity is the manufacturing and selling of various car and industrial machinery parts. The production and selling of all kinds of steel pipes, light shape steel and iron plates, the automobile door frame, muffler and impact beam. Its major customers are Hyundai Motors and Daewoo Motors.
It could be assumed that language would be a communication challenge for the Korean-born company, but it is not a barrier, according to Ms. Reigel. Charlie Kim, President of Dongwon, is a graduate of Iowa State University. After owning his own business for a time, he gravitated to Dongwon. He lives in the U.S.
Reigel, who moved from South Carolina to take her position with the local plant, thinks the presence of Dongwon has had a positive economic impact in the quality of life here. “There are a lot of newer cars in our parking lot since we opened”, she says. “Most of our employees are women, who currently run two shifts, five days a week”.
As a MonCre customer, Dongwon is afforded the necessary Internet service essential for today’s global market.
US National News
