Tuscaloosa plant expanding

{ Full Birmingham Business Journal Article Here }

Michelin North America last week announced plans for an $8 million expansion at its BFGoodrich plant in Tuscaloosa.

The 29,000-square-foot facility, which has been operating for more than 70 years, is set to see a 215 percent increase in space available with the construction of the additional storage space. The company currently employs roughly 1,360 at the plant. It remains unclear how many jobs will be added as a result of the expansion.

“The expansion of the storage facility will help us further improve customer service, especially geographically in key BFGoodrich tire markets,” said Greg Leikvold, the plant manager at the Tuscaloosa site. “The expansion will result in more agility and will improve our overall delivery efficiency.”

Construction on the project, which will bring the facility’s total square footage to 92,000 square feet, is expected to begin next month. The company hopes to with finish construction by early 2017 and reach full operational capacity by the second quarter of 2017.

The Tuscaloosa plant manufactures passenger and light truck tires.

The Tuscaloosa plant is one of two BFGoodrich facilities in the U.S. fully dedicated to the production of BFGoodrich tires.