Ten years ago today (August 14), Pirelli Tire North America began producing tires at 400,000-square-foot facility on a 127-acre tract of land in the Floyd County Industrial Park in Rome, Ga.
The Italian tire manufacturer found the area attractive to house its proprietary Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) and contemporaneously named Rome its North American headquarters for business operations in the United States and Canada.
Ten years and some 3 million tires later, Rome is headquarters for Pirelli’s NAFTA region that adds Mexican operations to the North American organization led by region Chairman and CEO Paolo Ferrari.
The facility, which also hosts one of five R&D centers Pirelli has around the world, employs over 250 people in corporate, production and engineering roles. “The operation we have here in Rome is a key part of our premium and original equipment strategy looking forward as it provides us the flexibility to be responsive to customer needs and produce short runs with high quality and uniformity,” says Ferrari. “This capability is key to being able to secure prestige fitments with top level car manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Jeep, and Chevrolet to name a few that we serve from Rome. We’ve done great things here in Rome and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”
Pirelli commemorated its 10-year anniversary by inaugurating an exhibit at the Rome Area History Museum that includes the first tire produced at the facility. Local dignitaries were on hand to help celebrate the occasion, which will become a permanent installation as Pirelli has become a museum partner. Pirelli plans to maintain an active presence in the community in initiatives that are closely tied to education and environmental awareness as delineated by its corporate social responsibility charter.
The celebration was capped by a tour of Pirelli’s campus in Rome hosted by Ferrari for U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and local officials where they were able to see MIRS in action.
