Bridgestone America Inc. opened a new $100 million technology center in Akron Wednesday. Though the city produces few tires, big research and development investments have kept Akron vital to the tire industry.
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View full sizeGuests enjoy lunch at the grand opening of Bridgestone Americas' new $100 million tech center in Akron. About 450 engineers and technicians work in the new facility.AKRON, Ohio -- Unless you drive a racecar, your tires weren't made in Akron. But Rubber City still houses the heart of the U.S. tire business.
The city on Wednesday celebrated that heritage with the grand opening of Japanese tire company Bridgestone Americas' $100 million, 450-worker tech center. Community leaders and the company have been working on the project for more than four years.
"It is vitally important for a city to hang on to what it has, and we've been able to do that," Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic said at the ceremony.
While workers there celebrated, construction crews across town worked on the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s new headquarters that's scheduled to open next year.
Between the two projects, tire companies, real estate developers and government agencies have announced more than $1 billion in investments in Akron - all centered around keeping high-tech research and development jobs in the city.
"You have to make something," Plusquellic said during an interview Wednesday afternoon. "Making things comes from ideas, so you need to keep the ideas coming from places like this."
Both Bridgestone and Goodyear continue to make racecar tires in Akron -- Nascar tires for Goodyear, Firestone-brand Indy race series tires for Bridgestone -- but production of car and truck tires and the jobs associated with those left the city decades ago. Now, most U.S. tire production takes place in Tennessee and South Carolina.
Bridgestone in 2008 was considering building the new tech center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., or in Akron. Ohio eventually offered $18 million in tax breaks. City, county and port authority groups in Akron offered another $50 million in tax breaks and low-cost loans.
Gary Garfield, Bridgestone Americas president and chief executive, said the site in Akron, a few miles south of I-76 near Firestone's old heaquarters, was the No. 1 choice for the tech center for the company's engineers and scientists. He noted that the new center is only a few blocks from Harvey Firestone's red brick factory and headquarters building.
"I can't help but think that for 80 years, that building served as the technology center for the Firestone Tire Co," Garfield said. "That history of innovation is going to carry on in this building."
Though Bridgestone bought Firestone in 1988 and the Bridgestone name is on the building, Harvey Firestone's name casts a long shadow across the tech center.
A statue of Firestone faces the new tech center, and inside the building, many engineers have plaques with Firestone's picture on their cubicle and office walls -- commemorating patents and inventions.
During Wednesday's grand opening ceremonies, most of the Akron area officials who spoke about the company mentioned parents, grandparents or uncles who worked at its tire plants. Plusquellic mentioned working on Firestone's loading docks in his youth.
"Wherever wheels are turning, no matter what the load, the name that's known is Firestone," State Rep. Vernon Sykes sang during his speech, referring to Firestone's 1960s'-era jingle, "Where the Rubber Meets the Road." Within seconds, half of the audience was singing along.
During tours of the tech center, Akron community ties to the rubber industry were evident. At each work station, a city councilman, chamber of commerce representative or a county official would break away from the group the shake hands with a neighbor.
Other officials mentioned ties to Goodyear, although with the celebration being a Bridgestone event, they avoided the Goodyear name, referring only to "another company on Market Street."
Driving along Market Street, it's easy to see that both of Akron's big tire companies have been busy. Goodyear plans to move into a new headquarters building next year. The shell of that building is almost finished, and crews are working on a new parking garage.
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View full sizeThe shell of Goodyear's new headquarters building in Akron is almost complete, and work crews are finishing a new parking garage across the street. Goodyear plans to move into the new building next year.Stuart Lichter's Industrial Realty Group is handling that $900 million project. IRG plans to redevelop Goodyear's existing buildings into new office in retail space after the tire company moves into its new building.
Shawn Rohlin, an economics professor at the University of Akron, said the big investments by Goodyear and Bridgestone are important because both tie the companies to Akron's future. State incentives offered to the companies call for 15-20 year commitments.
"Along with the health and education industries, the technology industry is among the fastest growing sectors in the city of Akron," Rohlin said. "The investments in infrastructure and human capital [by the tire companies], in terms of hiring researchers and designers, has contributed to the growth in the technology field."
Plusquellic said between the big tire company investments and the growing number of research dollars flowing into the University of Akron's polymers program, he expects the region to remain the global development center for the tire industry.
"All of these things help us create an atmosphere of energy and innovation that leads to new products," Plusquellic said. "That's where our future is."