Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. benefited with a $20 million deal to aid the planned expansion of its tire plant in Lawton, Okla., and can thank its employees for the bump.
On Aug. 26, the state’s Council of Bond Oversight authorized the Oklahoma Development Finance Authority to issue $20 million in bonds for the project. Under the deal, Goodyear will buy the bonds and the state will repay the tiremaker over the next 15 years with income tax money collected from plant workers.
The planned $150 million expansion project at the plant is slated to add some 50 jobs, according to reports,
“The bottom line is Goodyear is going to receive $20 million over the course of several years to subsidize the expansion of the plant," said John Harris, president of the finance authority. “Rather than giving them $20 million up front … they’re funding the note and then the payments will go to them over the course of time."
Harris noted that withholding taxes from Goodyear workers are currently being used to pay back a $36.3 million bond issue in 2004 for the Lawton plant.