Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire announced in December that it will invest at least $33 million in its Aiken, S.C., tire plant during the next four years in order to add new production equipment and retool existing equipment.
Combined with its announcement earlier last year of a $17 million plant upgrade, the company will invest at least $50 million in the Aiken facility over the next five years. Recently, the plant added a new mixer, modified its tire assembly system and hired 36 new employees.
“By investing more than $50 million over five years we are helping to ensure that the Aiken County facility remains competitive in the tire and rubber business for years to come,” said Steve Brooks, vice president of manufacturing for Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire.
Since Aiken was named as the location for the tire manufacturing facility in 1997, BFSC has reached a number of milestones, including the celebration of its 50 millionth tire in January 2006. The facility, which employs more than 900 workers, has received a number of state and national awards.
Other Expansions Around the State
Cytec Industries Inc. has chosen Greenville, S.C., as the location of the company’s proposed new facility. The company’s capital investment in the expansion, projected at about $150 million, is in addition to a modernization and re-commissioning effort completed last year at the company’s existing carbon fiber manufacturing site in Greenville.
St. Paul, Minn.,-based 3M will expand its film manufacturing operations at its Greenville facility. Construction on the $100 million expansion project will begin in May and production is scheduled to begin in 2008.
Carolina Metal Finishing has purchased and begun renovations of the former National Guard Armory in Bishopville, S.C., to become its new manufacturing facility. The company plans to invest $800,000 and create 40 jobs.
The company, a subsidiary of Linden, N.J.,-based Paramount Metal Finishing, applies specialty powder coatings and paints on metal and plastic components.
Purafilter 2000, a manufacturer of residential air filters, announced in December that it will establish a new manufacturing operation in Greer, S.C. The company will lease 60,000 square feet of existing space and intends to hire as many as 70 employees by mid-2007.
Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., Purafilter 2000 began with three employees in 1990 and now employs more than 400 employees and has manufacturing facilities in Nevada and Texas.
Citi Trends Inc. recently announced that it will expand its Darlington, S.C., distribution facility, which distributes clothing products to Citi Trends stores located throughout its 16-state market in the eastern U.S.
The company will add more than 250,000 square feet to the existing facility and expects the $10 million expansion to be completed in January.
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