CLINTON, MS — Continental is investing more than $1.4 billion in a new truck tire manufacturing plant. The official groundbreaking ceremony took place on Wednesday. The facility is located in Hinds County off of Interstate 20, two miles from Clinton and 20 miles from the state capital of Jackson, and will employ about 2,500 people by the time it reaches full capacity in the next decade. 

Continental expects to begin actual construction of the plant in 2018, following 18 months of clearing and preparation work at the 1,000-acre site. 

“Building this new facility in Mississippi is a critical part of our growth strategy for Continental Tire, known as Vision 2025,” said Nikolai Setzer, member of Continental’s Executive Board and head of Continental’s global tire business worldwide. “This is the first new plant, globally, for the truck tire business in more than ten years. We are convinced that the state of Mississippi provides the best options for Continental to grow our tire business.” 

Setzer says Continental looked at many prospective sites, including Mexico, before settling on Clinton, Mississippi. 

“We looked at the entire picture, including where our customers are and how we get raw material into the plant,” he said. 

“We looked at economic and political stability, currency exchange rates, the availability of a skilled labor force, sources of training and even the size of the available land plots.” 

Continental says growth in its commercial vehicle tire business has consistently exceeded the market over the last five years and the company continues to see customer demand for its products — both new truck and bus tires as well as retreads which are growing beyond the company’s existing capacity. 

The Continental deal was the largest economic development package to ever go through the Mississippi legislature. 

“The groundbreaking of Continental’s new tire manufacturing plant in Central Mississippi marks a significant milestone in the development of the company’s newest state-of-the-art facility. I congratulate everyone involved with this monumental project and look forward to the plant’s progress,” Governor Bryant said. 

Published reports say the deal included approximately $600 million in state and local incentives as well as tax breaks from Hinds County and inventory and franchise tax breaks. 

Not including the planned investment in Mississippi, Continental has invested nearly $2.5 billion in the past decade for manufacturing, technology, facilities and product development to grow its tire business in the Americas. Part of this investment has been the expansion of Continental’s tire plant in Mt. Vernon, Illinois and the new Sumter, South Carolina facility. 

The company’s parent company, Continental AG, headquartered in Hanover, Germany, had 2015 profits of approximately $3 billion on revenues of $43.5 billion.