Goodyear to Invest $30 million in Fayetteville

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co has confirmed that it is planning to plough $30 million into its Kelly-Springfield plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Employees at the plant breathed a sigh of relief at the news, after worrying about the financial struggles of their company.

The Fayetteville Observer reports that the announcement comes less than three months after plans for a $17.7 million investment at the plans were made public. According to the local newspaper, those plans called for the plant to make tyres for 20 inch diameter wheels. The most recent investment will pay for warehouse space and tyre-making equipment. Neither of the investments will bring more jobs, but they are believed to go some way towards safeguarding existing positions. They will also increase the productivity and cost effectiveness of the 35-year-old plant, company officials said. Work on the factory should be finished by the end of 2005.

The Fayetteville factory is one of Goodyear’s largest, with about 2,650 employees.