Nokian Tyres has taken another step forward in its North American growth plan with two additions to its Americas leadership team.

Betsy Phillips has been hired to serve as Associate General Counsel. Phillips comes to Nokian Tyres from Nissan North America, where she counseled the company on a variety of topics, including strategic transactions, advertising, dealer network development and regulatory matters.Phillips is responsible for managing Nokian Tyres’ North American legal affairs in partnership with the company’s headquarters in Nokia, Finland. Phillips is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and The University of Tennessee College of Law.

Robert Kelley will serve as IT Director for Nokian Tyres’ Americas region. Kelley has nearly 20 years of experience managing IT initiatives for global corporations, most recently as Senior Manager of IT Applications and Security at Wacker Chemical Corp. in Charleston, Tennessee. Kelley specializes in meeting regional and global IT requirements, supporting internal business process requirements and implementing effective project management solutions. He has an MBA from Michigan State University, where he also received a Bachelor’s degree in engineering.

Phillips and Kelley are based at Nokian Tyres’ North American headquarters office in Nashville, Tennessee.

“We are excited to welcome Betsy and Robert to our growing team,” said Nokian Tyres Senior Vice President, Americas Mark Earl. “Both have deep experience in their areas of specialty and will help us pursue our ambitious goals.”

Phillips and Kelley will support Nokian Tyres’ growing North American presence, which includes construction of a new production facility in Dayton, Tennessee. The Dayton factory is the company’s first tire plant in North America and is set to begin producing tires in 2020. The factory, which will employ 400 workers, will produce four million tires once it reaches full capacity.