South Korean-based auto parts maker KMIN, a subsidiary of Kwang Myung Industry Co. Ltd., plans to invest $17.3 million to open its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Chambers County, Alabama. The firm will occupy an existing facility on Towel Avenue in Valley.

KMIN, which manufactures and assembles parts for automobile seats as well as ancillary parts, intends to hire 80 full-time employees within a year. In three years, KMIN’s workforce at the Valley facility should number 200 full-time associates, according to information supplied by the Alabama Department of Commerce.

Valerie Gray, Executive Director of the Chambers County Development Authority, said the KMIN facility in Valley will supply Hyundai Dymos, a Tier 1 supplier to the Kia assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, just minutes away across the state line.

The City of Valley and the Chambers County Commission worked together to make the project possible, according to CCDA Chairman Bobby Williams. Linda Swann, the Assistant Director of the Alabama Department of Commerce, and Joseph Burchfield, a Project Manager for the department, led the Alabama team, coordinating meetings with AIDT and the state Revenue Department.