Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC (BFNT) will benefit from an economic incentive package recently approved by legislators in North Carolina.
Both companies have tire manufacturing plants in the state. Goodyear has a plant in Fayetteville and BFNT has a factory in Wilson.
Reports say that Goodyear could receive more than $24 million, while BFNT could receive $22 million.
In order to qualify for the grants, the tiremakers had to agree to certain criteria, including their own investment of $200 million in their North Carolina plants.
"Our plan is to invest in the Fayetteville plant," says a Goodyear spokesman. The factory has the capacity to produce 47,000 passenger and 12,000 light truck tires per day, making it the second largest Goodyear tire plant in North America, according to Modern Tire Dealer research.
A spokesman for BFNT says his company plans to do the same at its Wilson facility, which has the capacity to produce 38,000 passenger and 4,000 light truck tires per day.
