Continental's South Carolina plant ahead of schedule

ERJ staff report (BC)

Sumter, South Carolina - Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. has said construction of its Sumter tire factory is ahead of schedule, according to Rubber & Plastics News.

Since groundbreaking took place in March, Conti has hired 50 for the factory and expects to have 300 employees at the site by the end of 2013.

“This year we focused on hiring key members of our management team and a variety of engineers,” said Sumter Plant Manager Craig Baartman, whose position was announced in August. “We plan to have our complete management team on board in 2013.”

Conti hired 18 multicraft technician employees in 2012, each of whom will spend about 12 weeks training at a Conti tire plant in Illinois, Germany, Portugal, France or Mexico to prepare them for their job in Sumter.

The $500 million plant should begin production in late 2013 or early 2014, the maker said. It will have the capacity to produce about 8 million passenger and light truck tires when at full capacity by 2021.