Carolina on Bridgestone 's mind Tire maker moves forward on Aiken County projects

摘要

AIKEN COUNTY, S.C.—Bridgestone Americas Inc. is progressing steadily on two expansion projects in Aiken County that entail more than $1.2 billion in investments. A little over a year ago, the Nashville, Tenn.-based subsidiary of Japan's Bridgestone Corp. revealed plans to further expand its existing passenger and light truck tire plant in Aiken County and also construct an off-the-road radial tire facility at a site about four miles away. When its expansion is completed, the passenger and light truck tire factory will grow 740,000 square feet to 2.74 million square feet and see employment boosted by more than 300 to about 1,550. The two-phase project will cost nearly $350 million and increase rated capacity to 37,750 tires a day when at full capacity, scheduled for April 2015, according to Plant Manager John Stewart.