Nokian names general counsel, IT director

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Nokian Tyres P.L.C. continues to add to its leadership team, appointing Betsy Phillips as associate general counsel and Robert Kelley as IT Director for Nokian's Americas region.

Both are based in Nokian's North American headquarters in Nashville.

Phillips most recently worked at Nissan North America Inc., where she counseled the company on a variety of topics, including strategic transactions, advertising, dealer network development and regulatory matters.

In her new role, she will be responsible for managing Nokian's North American legal affairs in partnership with the company's headquarters in Nokia, Finland.

Kelley has nearly 20 years of experience managing IT initiatives for global companies. Most recently, he served as senior manager of IT applications and security at Wacker Chemical Corp. in Charleston, Tenn.

Kelley specializes in meeting regional and global IT requirements, supporting internal business process requirements and implementing project management solutions.

Mark Earl, Nokian's senior vice president, Americas said both employees come with "deep experience in their areas of specialty and will help us pursue our ambitious goals."

Nokian is building its first North American manufacturing facility in Dayton, Tenn. The factory is set to begin producing tires in 2020 and is expected to employ 400. It will produce four million tires once it reaches full capacity.

The tire maker also recently said that is was looking to double sales in North America in the coming five years, during its third-quarter financial results presentation.

Meanwhile, Nokian expects to expand its sales in central Europe by 50 percent as well as maintain its market leader positions in the Nordic countries and Russia.