Local and state economic developers say Meridian is still in the running for a Kia Motors Corp. plant — even though a Georgia site has emerged as the front-runner, according to published reports.

Wade Jones, president of the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., said Kia has not officially backed off a megasite near Kewanee that the automaker had identified last year as a preferred location for its first American plant.

“But we know we have an advantage,” Jones said. “We have two rail services and two (interstate) highways, and soon to have a third highway (to Montgomery, Ala.). That’s a huge logistics issue, and the site is very attractive in terms of development prospects.”

According to an article late last month in the Seoul, South Korea, newspaper Chosun Ilbo, Georgia is offering Kia more incentives than both Mississippi and South Carolina. Kia is looking at the possibility of locating near LaGrange.

A report in the same newspaper last year touted Meridian as the premier choice for the Kia plant, but the automaker reportedly backed off because of concerns that Meridian’s population would not support the company’s need for 2,500 employees.

Jones said population is not an issue.

“There are 1.4 million people within a 100-mile radius of the site at Kewanee, and there are 1.6 million within a 100-mile radius of the Nissan plant in Canton,” Jones said. “That shows that the population is there to support the facility.”

Jones would not comment on published reports that Lowndes County, rather than Lauderdale County, has emerged as the company’s preferred Mississippi alternative to the Georgia site. The Clarion-Ledger quoted an official from the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link as saying he hopes Kia officials tour the site so they can see what the area has to offer.

Michael Choo, spokesman for Kia, said the automaker plans to make a decision about its first U.S. plant before the end of the month.

Both Columbus and Meridian are in a position to offer additional tax incentives to prospective economic development projects because of a recent move by the federal government. The Gulf Opportunity Zone legislation gives communities that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina the opportunity to offer to businesses additional incentives such as accelerated depreciation of assets.

Scott Hamilton, communications director for the Mississippi Development Authority, said that while “Kia expressed a preference for larger population centers, I believe the Kewanee site remains an excellent choice for them or any other large manufacturer.”

Hamilton said the GO Zone incentives also make the Kewanee site a wonderful opportunity for Kia.

Even if Meridian is not successful in landing the Kia plant, Jones said, the EMBDC is working with several companies in the automotive, warehouse distribution, and aviation and aeronautics sectors. He said he expects several companies to make announcements about Meridian in the coming months.

Jones said features like the MSU Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts and the city’s three major hospitals also are a bonus to the town when companies consider locating here. He said cultural, health and quality-of-life issues are very important in landing new businesses.