GOODYEAR PLANT

At the beginning of April 2021 Goodyear took part in a ground breaking ceremony for a $50 million expansion of the plant. The expansion will add 45,100 square feet to the 2.94-millionsquare-foot facility. The Lawton plant is just one of 46 facilities in 21 countries for the Akron, Ohio-based tire company, one of the largest tire companies in the world. About 3,000 of Good year’s 62,000 employees work at the Lawton facility. Since the Lawton plant was built for $216 million in the late 1970s, Good year has continually invested in modernization and expansion projects, over the years investing more than $1 billion in the facility. Goodyear’s Lawton plant is the largest manufacturing facility in the state.

The company’s commitment to investing in modernization has helped it weather the storm of COVID-19, according to the com pany’s financial statements. Production was temporarily halted for a week at the Lawton plant and throughout the Americas around this time one year ago, as a result of the “sudden de cline in market demand resulting from the spread of COVID-19,” according to a corporate press release. Since inception, they have continued operations through two world wars, econom ic depressions, cycles of recession and political and cultural change worldwide. In every instance, they adjusted to the dy namic conditions and emerged stronger.