Pirelli Tire to move North American headquarters

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 31)—Pirelli Tire North America Inc. will relocate its headquarters in the coming year from New Haven to Rome, Ga., the site of its $141 million Modular Integrated Roboticized System tire plant currently under construction. The headquarters and factory will share a building. Pirelli expects to move into the new headquarters by mid-2002, a company spokesman said. The firm also will house its research and development facility at the factory, replacing the existing R&D center at its recently closed tire plant in Hanford, Calif. The spokesman said the company anticipates only about 15 of the 50 employees in New Haven will move to Rome. "There's no particular reason to be located in New Haven," the spokesman said. "We can see the benefit of having the headquarters located next to the factory."