The two-year job - that extended another eight months - has come to an end. In the beginning, it was one little piece of a comprehensive incentive package to persuade Kia Motors to locate in Troup County, but in the end it was that small paragraph in a fat stack of incentives that helped children find their seats in schools, that helped moms find the grocery stores and doctors’ offices, and showed the way for dads to find housing for families arriving from Korea.

It also added a long list of new friends to Susan Ferguson’s life.

Ferguson took on the job as family support coordinator for the Kia project in Nov. 1, 2006. Her original commitment was for two years, to help settle the first wave of Korean families moving into Troup County to work with Kia Motors, which is building an auto assembly plant in West Point.

“I was the go-to person. Anything a family needed to help them transition from a different culture, I was the one that helped,” Ferguson said. “I helped with housing, utilities, schools, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses, doctors and just about everything they could need. That was my job description.”

Every day was different and often an adventure for Ferguson.

Just a week after the job began, Ferguson invited two of the Korean managers to Thanksgiving dinner with her family. She cooked a traditional turkey and dressing Southern meal for them.

In the meantime, the two men did their research to find an appropriate gift to take to the Fergusons.

“When they came over, they brought me a dozen roses and a bottle of wine. I explained to them the gift was very generous and they could have brought just one thing - or nothing. I also told them they were welcome at my house any time,” she said.

The meal went well, although she realized later that she didn’t even think about explaining that a turkey was much like a chicken - the two had never eaten turkey before. For dessert, Ferguson had an array of sweets, not realizing that Koreans eat very few sweets.

“One of them choked down a brownie. I realized later that sweets are just not big in Korea. He told me later it was the sweetest thing he’d ever had,” she said.

Crossing the cultural barrier while respecting the diversity of both cultures was the challenge for Ferguson. It wasn’t difficult since she found the Korean families to be gracious - and forgiving if necessary.

One of the biggest challenges came when Ferguson began looking for housing for the families.

“It wasn’t exactly a misunderstanding, more of an unintentional omission,” Ferguson said. “I assumed they were buying houses and they assumed I knew they wanted to rent, which is most common in Korea.”

Ferguson had found five local real estate agents who were ready to work with the Korean families to find housing. It wasn’t until one family sat at the closing table that they all realized they weren’t talking about the same thing.

“Nobody bought a house,” Ferguson said. “I had the real estate community very upset with me.”

It took some creativity, but Ferguson shifted her thinking and went to work finding people willing to invest in houses that the Korean families wanted to rent.

That was one of the few difficult experiences about the job. Most of the memories are wonderful, she said.

Even getting all the paperwork wasn’t as difficult as it could of been.

“The city of LaGrange and Diverse Power bent over backward to help us. The school system was wonderful - Sherry Latham would stop whatever she was doing to help me set the kids up in schools,” she said.

Her work and the cooperation across the county has been appreciated.

“Susan has been a tremendous asset to the Kia project in Troup county during the past two-plus years,” said Richard Park, Kia’s manager of public relations and legal. “As a result of her hard work, dozens of families have found the transition from Korea to be a much easier process. We will all be eternally grateful for her contributions to this project and commitment to Troup County.”

Jane Fryer, president of the Development Authority of LaGrange, said there was a reason she chose angels for the centerpieces at a luncheon honoring Ferguson last week.

“She has been an angel to me and to so many people she helped. I can’t imagine what we would have done without her,” Fryer said.

One of the highlights of the job came just two months after she started. Park was one of the first Kia employees to come to town. When he arrived, his wife was eight months’ pregnant. Ferguson helped her find a doctor and was at the hospital when the baby boy was born in January.

“They wanted the baby to have an American name and asked me to suggest one. I thought they wanted a nickname, but they wanted me to name the baby,” she said.

It was a big responsibility. Ferguson researched names with attributes, history and origin and then gave the couple a list of five choices. They chose Jason.

A year later, Ferguson was invited to his first birthday party.

The job is coming to the end, but Ferguson is confident the relationships will continue.

“I have really, really enjoyed this job. It has exceeded my expectations,” she said. “The best part is the families I’ve met. I know people have often been frustrated with Kia, the company, but the people that make up the company are very generous. They have become good friends.”

Sherri Brown can be reached at sbrown@ lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 240.