Construction progressing at Nokian's plant in Tennessee

Dayton, Tennessee – Nokian Tyres North America reports construction of its plant in Dayton is progressing and is on schedule to meet the company's goal of starting commercial-scale production by 2020.

According to the company, there are 250 construction workers on site at the Dayton location, and to date, around 70,000 labour hours have been worked.

Construction of the production building, the largest and most complex area in the facility, has begun, with more than 6,000 cubic yards of concrete having been poured for foundation and piles drilled down to the bedrock.

A handful of employees are based in Dayton already, not including nearly 260 contractors who have moved into the area, supporting the local economy.

In addition, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power lines soon will be visible, running down the ridge to the site and will be in full use soon. The company said it expects the walls for key areas of the factory to be up soon, revealing the scale of the state-of-the-art facility.

The $360 million  (€310 million) facility is on schedule to begin commercial-scale production in 2020, as nearly half of that sum has been invested already.

Chicago-based development firm Clayco Inc. is overseeing construction, including managing all sub-contractors.

The plant is expected to create up to 400 new jobs in Rhea County.

"The scale of the Nokian Tyres' project has created immediate, positive impact on the community and local businesses," said Nathaniel Eastwood, chief operating officer of Van Meter Hotels LLC. "We look forward to the additional long-term growth potential this project offers for Rhea County."

Nokia, Finland-based Nokian Tyres PLC — No. 18 in Tire Business' 2017 Global Tire Rankings with 2016 sales of $1.7 billion — announced plans in May 2017 to build the 830,000-sq.-ft. plant.

The facility will concentrate on producing passenger, SUV and light truck tires specifically for North American consumers. The eventual capacity is expected to be 4 million tires per year.

The project also includes warehousing for up to 600,000 tires.