New Owner for Former Iowa Bandag Building

Muscatine Foods Corp. will move its corporate offices into a building it has agreed to purchase from Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions. In November, BBTS laid off 18 Muscatine, Iowa, employees and transfered 32 jobs to its corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.

The purchase of the building in Muscatine is anticipated to close within 90 days, according to officials of the food company. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Muscatine Foods, which dates back to 1936, is the privately owned parent company of Grain Processing Corp., Kent Nutrition Group-Feed Division, Kent Nutrition Group-Pet Division and Precision Foods Inc. The company still will keep its current headquarters in Muscatine and is working to determine which employees and parts of the company will move into the new space.

BBTS was started in Muscatine more than 50 years ago by Roy Carver and became a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of retread truck tires. It was acquired by Bridgestone in June 2007 for $1.05 billion. The company has said it expects to keep about 220 employees in Muscatine, will consolidate its local operations into the Bridgestone Bandag Learning Center and another facility at Progress Park, according to the company.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."