Goodyear Seeks State Help for Fayetteville Plant

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is asking US state official for millions of tax dollars to modernize its Fayetteville plant that is at risk of closing. State Rep. Rick Glazier, a Democrat from Fayetteville, confirmedt that local and company officials are discussing options to help upgrade the 37-year-old plant. With about 2,600 employees, the factory is the third-largest private employer in the county, the Fayetteville Observer reported. The move is widely seen as a hint that Goodyear is considering closing the factory.

We are going to look to assist them and have a true private-local-state partnership,” said Rick Glazier. The Fayetteville Observer quoted sources close to the process as saying the Fayetteville plant would need around $40 million from taxpayers. No exact figures have been published. The money would have to be in addition to millions more that Goodyear would spend on the plant if it decided to overhaul it.

In 2004, Cumberland County commissioners gave the local Goodyear plant – then known as Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. – $1.17 million for agreeing to spend $47 million on production lines and a warehouse. The commissioners also agreed then to spend another $2 million if Goodyear invested $103 million before 31 December 2009.