Newly formed Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi (YTMM), a manufacturing subsidiary of Yokohama Tire Corporation, officially broke ground recently on its new commercial truck tire manufacturing plant in West Point MS (149 miles from Jackson, the state capital), which is slated to begin operations in October 2015.
The event was attended by Hikomitsu Noji, president and representative director of The Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd; Yokohama executives; Mississippi Gov Phil Bryant; several state officials; and more than 350 guests.
“This is a great day for Yokohama, Mississippi, and the community of West Point,” said Tadaharu Yamamoto, YTMM’s president. “As we move forward with construction of our new tire-making facility, I’d like to personally thank Gov Bryant, his staff, and all the people in Mississippi for their support on this incredible endeavor. There’s no question we made the right choice coming to Mississippi with this project.”
Yokohama is making an initial $300 million investment in the facility with about 500 jobs expected to be created in the first phase. The roughly 1-million-square-foot factory, to be constructed on more than 500 acres of land, will include production, warehousing, and operations facilities. It will produce up to one million tires annually.
The groundbreaking ceremony capped an event-filled weekend for Yokohama, where it:
•Formally introduced Yamamoto as president of YTMM.
•Discussed its recently opened operational headquarters in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology, and Economic Development Park in Starkville MS. It houses several business functions, including administrative, human resources, information management, and planning.