ATLANTA — Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. has announced plans to invest $150 million to set up a tire manufacturing plant on a 150-acre site in the Atlanta area in response to growing demand in North America. The plant will be operated by a new subsidiary – Toyo Tire North America.
Groundbreaking is slated for June, and the plant will be capitalized at $50 million. The Japanese tiremaker said the factory would begin producing tires around February 2006. Toyo’s annual production goal for the facility is 2 million passenger and light truck tires.
Upon completion, the plant will have 96,000 square meters of floor space, including a 40,000-square meter warehouse. It will employ 350 people by the end of fiscal 2005, according to Toyo.
The announcement comes less than a day after the Cartersville-Bartow County, Ga., Joint Development Authority, Commissioner Clarence Brown and the Cartersville, Ga. City Council in Bartow County, Ga. presented a proposal to Toyo that included economic incentives including a five-year property tax abatement, job training, a $1,750 tax credit for each job created and tax credits for jobs created at ports in Savannah, Ga., and Brunswick, Ga.
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