It's Kentucky and Alabama on a neutral court, each team putting on its best game to win the ultimate prize.

        March Madness? You bet, but this competition in California has nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with enticing a $1 billion assembly plant that South Korean automaker Hyundai wants to build.

        Officials from both states spent the last two days in Los Angeles courting Hyundai representatives in hush-hush meetings, with both Kentucky and Alabama making their best offers and deal sweeteners.

        Hyundai has narrowed its search to locations in Montgomery, Ala., and Glendale outside Elizabethtown in Hardin County, Ky. Last week the company eliminated Ohio and Mississippi as possible locations.

        The 2,000-employee factory would build sport-utility vehicles.

        Charles Haywood, a retired University of Kentucky professor of finance and economics, said both states are pushing hard because it appears to him an announcement is imminent.

        “We're talking about Kentucky, so we may as well use a basketball term,” Mr. Haywood said Tuesday from his Lexington home. “The all-court press is on.”er

        Mr. Haywood has extensively studied Kentucky's move in the mid-1980s to bring a Toyota plant to Georgetown near Lexington. That plant now employs nearly 7,000.

        He has been following the Hyundai deal, and said at this stage both sides are making what could be their final case to the company.

        “They are probably getting close to making a decision,” he said. “It would be a big (shot) in the arm for Kentucky. Toyota has done so well it's really helped the economy. Hyundai could do the same.”

        Officials from both states have refused to talk about the meetings in California. Alabama reportedly met with the company Monday; Kentucky was up on Tuesday.

        Kentucky state officials in Frankfort, including those in the media offices of Gov. Paul Patton and the Economic Development Cabinet, refused to comment and referred all questions to Hyundai.

        Hyundai spokesman Chris Hosford declined to comment.

        Kentucky Economic Development Secretary Gene Strong was out of state until Thursday, an office spokeswoman said Tuesday. It is believed Mr. Strong was in Los Angeles to meet with Hyundai representatives.

        A spokesman for Mr. Patton confirmed that the governor, however, was in Frankfort on Tuesday.

        Kentucky U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, a Boone County Democrat, was to travel to Hyundai's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, this weekend along with other members of Kentucky's congressional delegation to pitch the Hardin County site and offer assistance from the federal government.

        That trip was canceled when Hyundai decided to hold the meetings in Los Angeles with state officials. But Mr. Lucas and other members of Congress — including Sens. Jim Bunning of Southgate and Mitch McConnell of Louisville — sent a letter to Hyundai in support of the Kentucky site.

        “We would simply take this opportunity to emphasize that Kentucky's growing economic climate is enhanced by a premier congressional delegation whose members are committed to supporting Hyundai Motor Company in our nation's capital,” the members of Congress said in the letter addressed Monday.

        Mr. Lucas said Tuesday he believes Kentucky's lower utility costs will help the state beat out Alabama.

        The average industrial electricity rate for Hardin County is $2.94 a kilowatt hour compared to $3.89 cents a kilowatt hour for the Montgomery area, according to information from U.S. Department of Energy.

        “I don't want to be overly optimistic, but Kentucky has such a huge advantage in the cost of power,” Mr. Lucas said. “And building automobiles uses a lot of power, so that's a major benefit for Kentucky.”

        The nearly $1 difference per kilowatt hour in electricity rates could play a role, considering that Hyundai spokesman Stephen Kitson told the Enquirer last week that the decision could come to pennies.

        “We're now looking at where we can make the most profit,” Mr. Kitson said in a phone interview from South Korea, “and that includes looking at how much it costs to produce a car in each state, and that can come down to difference of just cents on a car.”

        According to Mr. Haywood, other factors the company is likely using to make its decision are financial incentives offered by each state, details of which have not been made public; the availability of labor and parts suppliers; and transportation systems serving the plant.

        The sites in both states have access to interstate highways and rail lines, officials have said.

        “Kentucky has a track record of dealing with Toyota, and that is something Hyundai will certainly look at,” Mr. Haywood said. “But the bottom line will be where they can find the best economic situation. And that's what both states are pushing, that they can do it better than the other place.”

        The Associated Press contributed.

        E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com

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