Nokian Tyres officials recently announced that the company will invest $174.1 million to expand operations at its Dayton facility to “double its tire production capabilities.”
The Finnish tire company, which has operations in Europe, North America and Asia, established a presence in Rhea County three years ago with the building of its first factory and North American headquarters in Dayton, according to a press release by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).
.@NokianTyresNA will invest $174M to expand operations at its Dayton facility just three years after announcing plans to locate in TN.
The expansion will create 75 jobs in Rhea County and bring Nokian Tyres' total headcount in the region to 475 people. https://t.co/LEWRm8l6ZS pic.twitter.com/sYjWwR6zVV
— TNECD (@TNECD) January 11, 2023
As part of Nokian Tyres’ expansion project will be the building of an onsite, 830,000 square-foot tire storage warehouse that will have the capacity to hold 600,000 tires. The company anticipates its expansion project to create 75 new jobs in Rhea County.
“Tennessee’s business climate and unmatched workforce continue to attract world-class brands to the Volunteer State,” Governor Bill Lee said in a statement. “These 75 new jobs will greatly benefit Tennesseans in Rhea County and across the region for years to come, and I thank Nokian Tyres for placing its confidence in Tennessee.”
Hiring at the new factory will begin in March.
At its current facility in Dayton, Nokian Tyres makes all-season and all-weather tires. The company’s expansion will enable the company to add light truck tires to the facility’s product mix in 2023.
“As demand for our tires grows in the U.S. and Canada, our expanded Dayton Factory will supply customers with a rising number of safe, sustainable all-season and all-weather products,” Nokian Tyres Vice President of Sales Tommi Heinonen said in a statement. “We are happy to see the factory provide more jobs for North American workers and more tires for North American drivers.”
Regarding the company’s growth and success in Dayton, Nokian Tyres writes on its website, “Our Dayton factory is growing exponentially. After the factory’s best year on record in 2022, Nokian Tyres plans to double production there by 2024, crafting as many as four million tires per year in the heart of Southeast Tennessee. To meet this goal, we’ll be expanding our top-of-the-line workforce. New employees will receive rigorous training and access to premium facilities, including high-tech production infrastructure, a Wellness Center, and even a sauna.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Nokian Tyres” by Nokian Tyres.
