It was the longest of long shots, but unlike a Hollywood production there was no surprise happy ending.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. informed the city of Akron that it would not be building its planned $500 million consumer tire plant in its hometown, citing many of the front-line reasons that made Akron a long-shot to begin with.
“After an initial review of key factors, such as logistics, labor costs and access to a deep-sea port, we regrettably must remove Ohio from consideration. The analysis shows that locating in Ohio would add more than $50 million a year in costs over other locations, leaving Goodyear at a significant competitive disadvantage,” wrote Laura Thompson, Goodyear executive vice president and CFO in a Sept. 2 letter to Adele Roth, Akron deputy planning director for economic development.
“In order to do this, our site selection committee is now focusing its efforts on locations better suited to serving the needs of both our North American and South American businesses,” Thompson continued. “We expect a final decision sometime in early 2015.”
“After discussing the matter with Rich Kramer, I am saddened but I realize that it is not economical to ship millions of tires from Ohio to Latin America, where Goodyear’s growth in sales is occurring,” said Akron mayor Don Plusquellic in a statement. “I appreciate Goodyear’s willingness to consider our joint efforts to land this major investment, and further appreciate the continuing relationship between Summit County, the State of Ohio, the Greater Akron Chamber, and everyone who tried to make this happen.”
The announcement was surely a disappointment to USW Local 2, which represents Goodyear union workers at the company’s race tire plant. Early in the process, Local 2 leadership met with city and Goodyear officials to offer its support for placing the proposed plant in Akron.
“We’ve let Goodyear know that pretty much anything it would take to land that facility here, we’re willing to make happen,” USW Local 2 president Jack Hefner, told the Akron Beacon Journal at the time.
“To do nothing, you get nothing. If they don’t build it here, it certainly won’t be from a lack of trying.”
While Goodyear will not specifically comment on any particular location, most local scuttlebutt puts the new plant along the Mexican coast or in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.
