AKRON—Sinoarp America L.L.C. has opened a service center in Akron to help its Chinese parent company expand its business in North America.
The U.S. unit of Sinoarp Tires Equipment Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. opened the 1,500-sq.-ft. unit this past fall to better service customers of the supplier of curing presses for tire manufacturing, said Bill Rose, regional director of engineering for Sinoarp America.
Rose has been involved in the tire and rubber industry since the late 1970s, working for a number of tire equipment suppliers, with most of that time focused on tire curing presses. He then worked at Goodyear for 11 years, either working with the curing team or with the quality division.
During his tenure at Goodyear, he worked with Sinoarp on several curing projects. A few months after he retired from Goodyear, the Chinese firm told him they were interested in further expanding into the U.S. to support the curing presses they've sold in the states.