Giti Tire breaks ground on Chester County plant

The official groundbreaking at Giti Tire’s first U.S. manufacturing plant was the latest sign of hope for many Chester County residents.

The county, which had suffered for years from high unemployment, was a self-described bridesmaid for many major economic development projects. But on Thursday, with officials from the Singapore-based company gathering with state officials and local residents, some spoke of better days ahead.

Iris Dickerson, owner of a hauling company that’s located about two miles from the Giti site, said Thursday’s event showed Chester County was working hard to get back to where it once was. “We want to have a booming town, where the spirit is alive and people are anticipating paychecks they have earned rather than assistance,” she said.

Maggie James, a member of the Chester County school board, said Thursday’s event was full of promise for the area’s students.

A group of students attended the event to celebrate a partnership between Giti and the Chester County school system. Giti will sponsor the Giti Tire Math and Science Award. Teams from each school, elementary through high school, will be given a problem to solve. They will present their solutions at an annual competition.

Enki Tan, the company’s executive chairman, said he hopes the award helps inspires tomorrow’s innovators in science, math and engineering.

James said the school district “is on top” of the skills Giti will need at its new Richburg plant.

Tan and other Giti officials joined and state and local government representatives at the groundbreaking. There were so many “official” people attending that four different ground-breaking photos were taken.

The company hopes the $560-million plant, which will employ up to 1,700 workers, will be open in 2017. Timelines, hiring schedules and potential wages will be released later, company officials said.

After all the photos were taken Thursday, two excavators began a slow trek to where the digging will start. Awaiting them was more than 3 million tons of dirt that must moved to prepare the 250-acre site.

Thursday, most importantly, was about breaking bread and – in what has already become a tradition for Giti and Chester County – eating cake.

After the groundbreaking, Giti officials, local officials, and, most importantly, area business leaders gathered at the Gateway Conference Center for lunch. Giti officials were sent to all the tables to meet area residents.

The lunch format was by design. Bringing Giti Tire to Chester County took a community effort, county officials have said, and Thursday was about building friendships.

“This is a family company,” Gov. Nikki Haley said. “No. 1, most important to them was they wanted a community they would see as family and a community that would see them as family.”

Haley pledged her support for the project, noting “families don’t back off; (Giti) we have your back.

“We are your partner and we will help you complete the plant ahead of schedule.”

At the conclusion of Thursday’s luncheon, a cake baked by Jessie Cook of Cake Couture was displayed.

Cook made a cake when Giti’s announced in June that it was coming to Chester County. That cake featured the shape of a tire and a map of the world with Giti’s logo.

Thursday’s cake featured a map of Chester County, including major roadways. A miniature shovel was placed in the right corner of the cake. When the shovel was pulled, a Giti tire sign and logo rose from the center of the cake, signaling that Giti is about to rise from the ground.

This story was originally published February 12, 2015 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Giti Tire breaks ground on Chester County plant."