Governor, Toyo: 650 New Jobs in Bartow By the End of 2017

Gov. Nathan Deal announced today at the Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc. (TNA) facility in White near Cartersville in Bartow County that the company will expand its current facility, creating a total of 650 new jobs and $371 million investment into the project over the next four years.

“Georgia’s strong automotive manufacturing sector helps innovative companies such as Toyo Tire,” Deal said in a release. “The company’s commitment to Georgia over international competition speaks to the high level of our pro-business climate and solid relationship with our international partner, Japan. I have no doubt that this state-of-the-art manufacturing company will continue to grow in the industry.” 

The expansion of TNA will add 700,000 square feet to its current 2-million-square-foot manufacturing plant by the end of 2017. At the same time, TNA will expand the warehousing footprint by 30 percent. These expansions will significantly increase the company’s production and warehousing capacity to meet the growing demand within North America. Once completed, the expanded facility will continue to manufacture premium light truck and passenger car tires.

“We are proud to manufacture tires for North America, in North America,” said Jim Hawk, president of Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc. “This plant, and the people who work in it, play an important role in supporting consumers and our dealers as the demand for our products continues to grow. This fourth expansion will help us answer that demand.” 

Toyo Tire, founded in 1945 and headquartered in Japan, has been operating in the North American market for nearly 50 years. In 2004, the company established its first North American manufacturing plant just outside the city of White. Since the first tire rolled off the line in 2006, it has more than doubled the size of the facility through expansion projects and grown from 81 employees to more than 1,000 employees.

The Bartow-Cartersville Joint Development Authority assisted with the Toyo Tire expansion, along with Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Director of International Projects Scott McMurray and GDEcD Project Manager of Existing Industry and Regional Recruitment Carl Campbell, who both led the state’s project team. 

"We are honored that Toyo Tire has approved a further expansion in Bartow County,” Bartow County Sole Commissioner Steve Taylor said in the release. “They have been a great corporate partner for the community, having already created more than 1,000 jobs, and will soon have invested nearly $1 billion. We are proud that they continue to believe in Bartow, as we do in them.”

The state-of-the-art TNA manufacturing facility first broke ground in 2004 and features a proprietary automated production system called A.T.O.M. (Advanced Tire Operation Module), according to a Toyo press release 

“It is no surprise that Toyo Tire would choose to expand its facility in Georgia,” Chris Carr, commissioner of GDEcD, said in a news release. “Our advanced workforce and No. 1 business climate create the ideal location for a fast-growing company to increase production and remain competitive.”  

In May 2009, TNA was named Georgia Manufacturer of the Year by the State of Georgia. In September of this year, TNA achieved its certification to the latest ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems.  

On Nov. 27, 2013, the manufacturing facility reached a milestone by achieving a total production of 20,000,000 tires since it was founded.

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