Yokohama Tire Corporation will expand its manufacturing facility into the larger Western Region Distribution Center in San Bernardino County, California. The company leased a newly-constructed, 658,000-square-foot facility located at 16388 Fern Ave., Building 2 in the city of Chino, which it plans to occupy late this year.

The company is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tires since 1917. Yokohama will distribute its products, including passenger car/truck, commercial truck and Off-the-Road tires from the facility. The company is also relocating its warehouse operations from its current 380,000-square-foot facility in the city of Fullerton.

“The move to the new warehouse facility is just the beginning.” said YTC’s Chief Strategy Officer Tom Masuguchi. “In addition to expanding our West Coast capacity to keep pace with our strong growth, we will be breaking ground with new processes for servicing our customers, filling orders and distributing inventory throughout our four distribution centers in the country. The new facility will be the cornerstone of the future of our U.S. distribution network.”

Yokohama plans to hire additional personnel over the next year, bringing full-time and contract labor to the new facility. The County of San Bernardino Workforce Investment Board worked closely with Yokohama through the County’s Workforce Development program. The County also offers assistance with programs such as the California Competes Tax Credit, an income tax credit for businesses that want to come to California or stay and grow in California.