WEST POINT — When Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Chairman Takehisa Morimoto began a project to locate a tire production plant in West Point, he aimed to produce 1 million tires annually.
Just 10 years after the company broke ground on the facility, and eight years of operations, he said the plant is growing close to that goal. Since opening in 2015, it has generated 890 jobs and went from producing about 600,000 tires in year one to 750,000 in 2022.
“We wanted to expand in (the United States) and become the best brand in the world,” Morimoto said. “Everything we wanted to do in the quality of our tires and production here is now at the top of the bar.”
Morimoto, joined by CEO Jeff Barna and General Manager and Vice President of Operations Philip Calhoun, spoke to a crowd of 25 people at a 10th anniversary of its groundbreaking and celebration of the company’s Clay County presence.
“It’s highly gratifying to be here celebrating this momentous occasion knowing that this plant is on an upswing,” Barna said. “I have commemorated a lot of plants for Yokohama worldwide, but if you were on a downswing, I guess that wouldn’t be cause for celebration. It’s really nice coming in here today knowing that production levels are hitting records.”
The company began looking to build a 1 million-square-foot plant on Yokohama Boulevard in Clay County in 2012 and broke ground in 2013. Once production began in 2015, the plant had about 500 employees.
Just eight years later, Calhoun said the company is on track to meet 775,000 tires in 2023 and 800,000 in 2024. To do this, his team added new equipment that will produce an additional 50,000 tires per year.
“The biggest thing is utilizing the assets that we currently have, and getting the maximum potential out of the (the production) that we currently have,” Calhoun said. “… We’re still relatively a baby as relates to being a manufacturing entity here in Mississippi. The key thing is it’s all about continuous improvement over time, and that’s what we’ve done here effectively is continuously improving in every aspect of the business.”
The plant is also looking to recruit younger generations in the Golden Triangle. In 2022, the company started its ITIRE program, which aims to provide high school students with the opportunity to shadow staff at the plant over the summer. Of the 90 summer program graduates, nine have joined Yokohama as full-time employees.
“The program is a lesson learned that I got from Japan,” Calhoun said. “In Japan, most Japanese companies start building that relationship in many instances in junior high school. So we start building up your network at a very early age, so that whenever they reach a decision point for a career, they have been effectively exposed to different areas within manufacturing.”
As the company moves forward, Calhoun said it hopes to reach a production capacity of 1 million tires annually within the next few years. Morimoto added that once that happens, the company will look at expanding its facility on the 500 acres it has left to build on in West Point.
“When we built this plant, there were four phases planned,” Morimoto said. “We’re just on phase one right now, but we have plenty of room at our current location to expand. Wherever our market needs take us will guide how we expand.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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