SPOTLIGHT ON WEST POINT
LaGrange’s Stuart Countess first American CEO to lead Kia Georgia plant
K
ia Georgia made history recently with its appointment of its first American president and CEO. The change signifies a shift from the Kia Corporation’s appointment of executives from its global headquarters in Seoul. Stuart Countess was recently named president and CEO at the West Point plant, following the retirement of Jangsoo “Jason” Shin, who held the position since 2017. Countess, a resident of LaGrange, is not new to the area and has strong ties to the community, including receiving a master’s degree from LaGrange College. He was hired at Kia Georgia in 2008 after spending 13 years at Mercedes Benz US International in Vance, Ala. where he served in numerous leadership positions within the production and quality departments. In his first position at Kia Georgia, he served as a senior manager of the general assembly shop. Throughout the years he was promoted to director of quality, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Operating Officer (COO). As COO, Countess was responsible for leading the plant’s production and quality divisions, overseeing the operations of the four manufacturing shops, as well as the departments of quality control, quality assurance, production control and maintenance. From COO, he takes the lead as president and CEO.
“I am honored to have been selected to lead such an outstanding organization,” Countess said. “Kia Corporation will focus on different markets from a ‘regional’ approach and part of this approach is to localize leadership in support of being more integrated and supportive of the specific market. Kia Georgia has been at the forefront of this opportunity for many years, due to its great success and top leadership. I look forward to continuing the past successes and creating new history with the Kia Georgia team.” Countess is one of the most experienced managers at Kia Georgia. He says the past 14 years have passed quickly and he plans to continue working collaboratively with each department at Kia Georgia as well as its community partners. “We have created success,” he said. “Understanding the processes and procedures of the entire company has been an invaluable experience, and I look forward, in my new role, to finding synergies across the different areas that will take us to the next level.” Countess said his approach to leadership at Kia Georgia will be to listen to his team. “I think the main responsibility of any leadership function is to listen to others in the company and make solid, informed decisions,” he said. “All of our prior CEOs relied on their past experience and the counsel of the rest of the leadership team in making their decisions. I plan to do the same. We’ve accomplished many successes here by following our core philosophy and trying to do the right things, so any changes we make will need to be based on solid facts and data, with the best interests of the company and its team members in mind.”
His first priorities in his new role will be to successfully launch the new 2023 Sportage – recently announced as the fourth vehicle that will be assembled at the plant. “The Sportage is extremely important to the Kia brand and Kia U.S.,” Countess said. “Kia Georgia was selected to build this vehicle because of its past successes, such as the Telluride. I am challenging my team to work together and make this vehicle the next benchmark.” In addition to building its fourth vehicle, Countess said the plant will continue to focus on developing and implementing Kia’s brand transformation – Plan S. “This is about our future,’ he said. “There are many components to Plan S, including electric vehicles, smart factory concepts, and renewable energy, to name a few.” Additionally, Countess said he will focus on promoting a work environment that brings out the best in all team members. “We will provide opportunities for our team to learn and develop individually and achieve success together as well as supporting others in their times of need,” he said. “We have celebrated many accomplishments in a relatively short time by working as One System, One Team, and I’m happy to be a part of this outstanding, world class team.” Countess holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama. He received his master of business administration from LaGrange College. Countess and his wife Dana have raised four children, now all grown, and they have two grandchildren. They reside in LaGrange.
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