RIVERSIDE COUNTY’S Economic Development Agency recently hosted an event that offered a peek into the future of our local economy.

The event, entitled “State of Transformation,” was highlighted by an announcement that a South Korean firm, CT&T United, plans to bring as many as 2,000 jobs to the area when it opens a plant to build electric vehicles.

The company plans to build the cars with a local firm, MPV RV, which will convert a factory it owns near March Air Reserve Base to handle the electric vehicle production under the company name MPV-EV.

“These vehicles support the green movement that is changing transportation,” said Brad Williams, chief executive officer of MVP-EV. “You have my word that this company will be a success.”

The development of the electric vehicle factory in a facility that once was used to build recreational vehicles was thrilling for economic development officials.

“This is a really important development for the county because it creates jobs,” Tom Freeman, an Economic Development Agency spokesman, told a crowd of several hundred people at the “State of Transformation” event. “We are very delighted to have them here.”

Jamil Dada, past chairman of the Riverside County Workforce Development Board, said the project shows that economic progress is possible even in difficult times.

“Our job is putting America back to work,” said Dada, a Riverside resident who now serves as the chairman of the National Association of Workforce Boards in Washington, DC. “The search for additional jobs is difficult, but not impossible.”