WHITE, Ga.—Toyo Tire North American Manufacturing, Inc. broke ground on a 1 million sq.-ft.-addition to its White plant on Dec. 6.
The manufacturing facility will be expanded by 700,000 square feet, and the warehouse facility will be expanded by 323,000 square feet. The company said the expansion is a result of increasing demand for Toyo and Nitto brand light truck and passenger car tires.
The firm's parent company, Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, is investing $371 million over the next four years. It will create 650 new jobs.
It's the fourth expansion to the 2 million square foot plant, which features Toyo's proprietary A.T.O.M. (Advanced Tire Operation Module) manufacturing technology, since it first broke ground in 2004. It currently employs 1,000.
Toyo is committed to investing $275 million and creating 450 jobs by mid-2016. The firm's mid-term plan is to invest an additional $100 million and add 200 more jobs from 2016 through 2018, according to Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing President Jim Hawk—who is also chairman of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc., Toyo's North America business unit, and a senior corporate officer of Toyo Tire & Rubber Co.
