Wilson County commissioners unanimously approved an incentive package Monday to support Bridgestone’s multimillion-dollar plant expansion.
Wilson County commissioners unanimously approved an incentive package Monday to support Bridgestone’s multimillion-dollar plant expansion. Bridgestone will receive $14 million in economic incentives from the county over the next decade.
In January, company officials announced the doubling of an investment in Bridgestone’s Wilson County tire plant which began in 2016, bringing expansion spending to roughly $344 million. The most recently announced $180 million investment includes construction of a new state-of-the-art rubber mixer as well as providing funding for new manufacturing processes and technologies.
Construction is slated to begin this spring on the 50,000 square-foot addition for the mixer, which will include 16 new full-time jobs as production gets underway in the fall of 2018.
Last month’s $180 million investment announcement came a year after officials committed to a $164 million expansion at the Wilson plant, which includes a manufacturing space for new tire assembly machines, materials handling systems, curing presses and associated equipment.
The plant, which employs 1,750 people, was the first Bridgestone facility to produce run-flat tires and recently began producing the company’s new DriveGuard run-flat tires, a premium all-season tire engineered to go up to 50 miles after a puncture. The investments in the more than 2.5 million square-foot plant are expected to increase daily production to 35,000 tires by 2018.
A public hearing on the incentive package was held February 6th, prior to the county’s approval. No members of the public spoke during the hearing.
“This incentive shows our support for Bridgestone in Wilson County,” said Denise Stinagle, county manager. “They have had a positive impact on our workforce and quality of life and we look forward to working with them on a long and prosperous future.”