Bridgestone Celebrates 10 Years in Aiken County

The first tyre rolled off the production line at the Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire (BFNAT) factory in Aiken County, South Carolina on August 26, 1998. A decade on, the facility is producing 25,000 passenger and light truck tyres every day. The 10th anniversary of production was commemorated with a luncheon, at which business and local community leaders were the guests of senior company officials.

During the past decade Bridgestone has invested around half a billion dollars into the Aiken County facility, reports plant Manager Mike Rose. At the time of its establishment it was the largest single investment in South Carolina. “Our target was to be the most productive Bridgestone Firestone plant in the world and we are,” Rose said. “Now there are 50 others around the world chasing us.”

The company’s success is not about the facility itself as much as it is those that work there, said Steve Brooks, former Aiken County plant manger and now the president of management operations for parent company BFNAT. “We see people working toward a common cause and everybody doing their part,” Brooks said. “We’re proud to be a part of this community.”

The facility has been the recipient of numerous honours during the past decade. In 2003 the facility was named one of Industry Week’s top 10 plants in North America, and it remains one of only three tyre manufacturing plants in the US to achieve VPP star status.