Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi LLC (YTMM), a subsidiary of the Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd., has donated $500,000 to two Mississippi colleges.
Mississippi State University (MSU) and East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) each received $250,000 as part of YTMM’s program of making contributions to the local community. The donations were formally presented to school officials May 13, 2015.
YTMM President Tadaharu Yamamoto presented the MSU donation to Jason Keith, dean of the Bagley College of Engineering, and Sharon Oswald, dean of the College of Business. Yamamoto gave the EMCC donation to the school’s president, Rick Young. The funds are planned to be used for facility renovations and to support the schools' scholarship programs.
YTMM was established in May 2013 as a truck and bus tire manufacturing subsidiary. It started construction of a $300 million tire plant at West Point, Mississippi, in September 2013, and plans to begin operations at the plant this October. The new plant, which is being built on a 570-acre site, will have an annual production capacity of one million tires.
YTMM says its goal is to staff the plant with local hires and operate it as an integrated member of the local community. In line with that policy, YTMM says it looks forward to contributing to the local community in a variety of ways, such as these contributions to local educational institutions.
