Giti Tire to start work on Chester County tire plant soon

Chester County Supervisor Carlisle Roddey is legendary for his folksy one liners.

His most-often repeated quip is “I’ll believe it when trees fall and dirt is flying,” – his usual response to questions about economic development.

Next week, the trees will fall and the dirt will fly at the Giti Tire plant site off S.C. 9 near Richburg.

Giti Tire, a Singapore-based manufacturer, will start preparing 250 acres of the 1,152 acres it owns in Chester County. It’s the first step in building a $560 million plant that is expected to create about 1,700 jobs over the next decade. The plant is expected to make 30,000 passenger and light truck tires a day when fully operational.

The groundbreaking ceremony will be at 11 a.m. Thursday. Scheduled to attend are Giti Tire executives, representatives from the project team – Shimizu Construction of Tokyo; Gresham Smith and Partners, the architect of Nashville, Tenn.; and Brad Cole Construction of Carrollton, Ga. – Gov. Nikki Haley and other state and local politicians.

Once the dignitaries leave, Brad Cole Construction crews will start work, excavating dirt, digging sediment ponds and other erosion control measures, and finally compacting soil for a 1.8 million-square-foot building that could quickly double in size.

Brad Cole Construction hopes to have its work complete by July 1.

“This is no little something,” Roddey said Friday. “This is a big something.”

The site work is the seminal moment for the county, said Brian Singleton, chairman of the Chester Development Association and president and CEO of TruVista.

“This is a chance for people to see what’s been going on behind the scenes,” Singleton said.

Singleton and others who helped seal the deal say that Giti Tire officials are “great planners and smart people. It’s hard for people to see it, but they want to do it right.”

Giti Tire’s June 2014 announcement that Chester County would be home for its first American tire manufacturing plant was a shot of enthusiasm for a county that has seen high unemployment and, for those working, a commute to other localities.

Even with the announcement many residents still had a “wait and see” attitude. The attitude was formed over time as Chester County continually fell just short in its quest for a significant employer at its “mega site” between S.C. 9 and the Old Richburg Highway.

“The mentality of ‘believe it when I see it’ is a natural thing,” Singleton said.

Roddey and Karlisa Parker, Chester County director of economic development, said the announcement of the tire plant has increased interest in Chester County.

“People are calling us, looking for land,” Parker said.

The hope in bringing Giti Tire to Chester County was it also would attract businesses that will supply the plant.

Local needs for housing and retail are expected to rise, Parker said.

“Somebody needs to think about building houses,” Roddey said, noting that between 1,000 to 1,200 construction workers will be needed to build the tire plant.

There have been inquiries about building a hotel on land the county owns near the Gateway Conference Center, Roddey said. Four or five companies are interested, he said.

“We want a hotel, not a motel,” Roddey said.

Hiring for some of the work has started. Brad Cole Construction anticipates hiring as many 30 heavy equipment operators.

Parker said Giti Tire anticipates filling its construction jobs with as many local workers as possible.

Parker said she has given Giti Tire officials a list of possible subcontractors, adding that she plans to hold a vendor day to give companies a chance to meet Giti Tire officials. No date has been set.

This story was originally published February 6, 2015 at 11:34 PM with the headline "Giti Tire to start work on Chester County tire plant soon."