US Factory Boom Brings Billion-Dollar Projects to Tiny Towns

Cars won’t start rolling off the assembly line at the “Metaplant” Hyundai Motor Co. is building on 3,000 wooded acres in Bryan County, Georgia, for at least a year. But the $7.6 billion electric-vehicle and battery project a half-hour west of Savannah already has a firm grip on the imagination of nearby residents.

One rumor making the rounds this summer was that Hyundai planned to buy the local golf course to turn it into housing for some of the plant’s eventual 8,500 workers—or to give them something to do on their downtime. Meanwhile, developers in the area are itching to ...