TYLER, Texas (Feb. 19)—Goodyear likely will add machinery and update existing equipment at the firm's Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. plant in Tyler.
The company is reviewing a draft of a proposal prepared and approved by the Smith County, Texas, commissioners under which Goodyear would receive a four-year $154,672 tax abatement to upgrade the Tyler tire making facility, a Goodyear spokeswoman said.
The abatement proposal was approved by the commissioners Feb. 9 and covers taxation on equipment that, if Goodyear signs off on the project, will be transferred from other Goodyear factories to the facility in Tyler, she said. It would also cover retrofitting of existing machinery. The equipment is no longer needed or used at the other sites, the spokeswoman said.
The Tyler factory presently produces tires for smaller, more economical cars, but because Goodyear expects a bigger demand for larger sized, higher-value tires—17 inches or more in diameter—it will convert part of the plant for that purpose, if it approves the tax abatement proposal.