Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is investing $36.6 million in its Warren County, Tenn., plant to increase production capacity by an additional 900 truck and bus tires per day. The expansion is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2013 and is projected to create 50 new jobs.
The investment is part of a comprehensive expansion in U.S. manufacturing operations announced by Bridgestone Americas Inc. (BSAM), BATO’s parent company. To meet the growing global demand for off-road radial tires, the company announced it will build a new off-road radial plant in Aiken County, S.C., and will substantially increase production capacity at its existing passenger and light truck tire plant in Aiken County. All together, these projects combined with the new investments in the Warren County plant represent an investment of more than $1.2 billion in Bridgestone Americas’ U.S. manufacturing operations and are expected to create more than 900 new jobs in the next nine years.
In addition, Bridgestone Metalpha U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp. and an affiliate of BATO, will also be expanding operations in Tennessee. The company’s Clarksville, Tenn., plant will begin producing the off-road radial steel cord needed for the tires to be produced at the new Aiken County plant. The associated $75 million investment will expand the plant’s size by 123,077 s.f. and create an additional 45 jobs in that community.
Nashville, Tenn.-based BATO is a business unit of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corp., is the world’s largest tire and rubber company.
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