The Bridgestone plant in Normal will add 30 new employees as part of a $12 million investment, the tiremaker announced Tuesday.
The Bridgestone Americas plant now makes off-road tires for mining and construction. It will expand production for three off-road tire sizes currently made in Japan.
"This investment is about increasing our flexibility to produce high-quality radial or bias tires, whatever our customers demand,” plant manager Monty Greutman said in a statement. “It will allow us to deliver on our global commitment to develop innovative new products that will meet our customers’ needs, but it wouldn’t be possible without the outstanding teammates we have here today, some of whom have worked here for decades."
The plant currently has around 400 employees, according to the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council's latest tally. Its last major improvement was $48 million for a radial and giant loader expansion in 2011 and 2014, Bridgestone said.
“The addition of the three tire sizes to the (Bloomington-Normal) production line combined with our Aiken County, S.C., Off Road Tire Plant, allows us to support North American customers with regional supply of our key products," Bridget Neal, Bridgestone's president for off-the-road tires, said in a statement.
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