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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Michelin Announces Expansion at Lexington County, South Carolina Site

05/09/2011
Michelin will invest $200 million in its Lexington facility to further expand its tire building capacity, creating 270 jobs phased in over two years. The tire maker has already invested more than $1 billion in the site since it was first established in 1981.

"Trusted for its quality and value, the Michelin brand was quite resilient during the recent economic crisis," said Dick Wilkerson, chairman and president of Michelin North America. "As the economy turned, demand for our tires increased dramatically. We must have additional capacity for high performance passenger car tires to meet our customers' needs. We're thrilled that the expansion will be in our home state of South Carolina. The Lexington County Council and the state of South Carolina have been effective partners with us, working to make this expansion and the new jobs that support it a reality."

Michelin's Lexington passenger and light truck tire facility currently employs 1,360 people in 1.2 million square feet. Michelin also operates an earthmover tire plant at the site, employing 475 people in 825,000 square feet.

"Michelin has been an important part of the Midlands business community for decades and we celebrate the company's decision to increase its presence in South Carolina. This announcement not only shows the company's commitment to our state, but that we are doing right things to help South Carolina's existing businesses grow. We look forward to Michelin's continued growth in South Carolina," said Gov. Nikki Haley.

Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America continues to re-invest in it's home state and today's news is just the latest commitment announced by the company. In August 2007, the tire manufacturer announced that it would invest $350 million over four years to improve and expand all of its South Carolina manufacturing facilities. At the time, Jim Micali, then the chairperson and president of Michelin North America, said that the company had invested more then $2 billion in South Carolina over the preceding 30 years.

According to its website, seven of Michelin North America's twenty plants are located within South Carolina and the company employs over 7,000 in the state, more then double than the next closest state or province.

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