Bridgestone announced a $550 million expansion back in August, and Industrial Development Board executive director Don Alexander says the programs offered through Motlow and TCAT helped facilitate the expansion in Morrison.
At the county Economic and Agricultural Development Committee meeting Tuesday night Alexander gave the commissioners an update on the Bridgestone expansion.
“As all of us know we had about the biggest announcement this county has ever had when Bridgestone said they were going to build a sister plant,” said Alexander.
Bridgestone’s local plant currently employs about 1,100. It’s been operational since the early 1990s. It will be an 850,000-square-foot expansion that, once finished, will allow Bridgestone to grow from 1.97 million square feet to 2.8 million square feet.
“Do you think the commitment with the new projects at the high school and Motlow and everything out there at TCAT had some influence on Bridgestone?” asked Commissioner Carl D. Bouldin.
“Absolutely. They are going to try and build that plant as automated as they possibly can. If you remember when they first came in they were lightyears ahead of everyone else having a computer that took tires in and out of the warehouse with the lights off,” said Alexander.
Alexander says Warren County was one of the first in the state to have a mechatronics program.
“What kind of timetable is Bridgestone looking at?” asked Commissioner Brad Hillis.
“They are going to select a contractor by the end of the year. They don’t have a general contractor selected yet. I think it will probably be a couple years before it is actually operational. We are in the supply chain chaos like everyone else and it just takes a while,” said Alexander.
The $550 million investment will allow for all tires made in Morrison to be equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, which will enable more efficient asset management and optimization of fleets’ investment in tires, including retreading. The plant will also incorporate technology for digital readiness in tires, including the integration of tire-mounted sensors that support advanced, data-driven insights for more efficient fleet management. The project is expected to be completed around May 2024.
