Expansion Groundbreaking Ceremony Held at Cooper’s Tupelo Plant

Cooper Tire & Rubber has embarked on a number of measures to boost its competitive edge in the North American market. As part of this the company intends to expand its Tupelo, Mississippi facility, and the groundbreaking ceremony for this project took place on September 22. According to Cooper, the US$7 million expansion work will increase the size of the 1.6 million square foot facility by an additional 32,000 square feet and include the installation of mixing equipment.

The groundbreaking ceremony drew officials from the Mississippi State Legislature, Mississippi Development Authority, the Lee County Board of Supervisors, the Tupelo Mayor and city council, officials from the Community Development Foundation and Cooper Tire’s executive management. During the day’s proceedings, Tupelo plant manager Pat Jodon told guests that “this expansion will enable Cooper to produce more technologically advanced products and will enable the Company to improve the competitiveness of its operations.

“The Tupelo facility’s expansion will also allow us to better serve our customers and improve our competitive advantage in the North American market,” Jodon added.  “We are grateful for the community and state support we have received for this project.”

The expansion project is the result of an incentive/retention agreement that was reached with city and state authorities earlier this year. Construction begins in September and details of the expansion plan are being finalised. An April 2010 completion date for the project has been announced.