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Cooper Tire to Expand Mississippi Plant
FINDLAY, OHIO, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 — COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY (NYSE: CTB) held an official groundbreaking ceremony today for its facility expansion project in Tupelo, Miss. The ceremony drew officials from the Mississippi State Legislature, Mississippi Development Authority, the Lee County Board of Supervisors, the Tupelo Mayor and city council, officials from the Community Development Foundation and Cooper Tire's executive management.
Cooper currently occupies more than 1.6 million square feet and employs more than 1,250 people at its South Green Street facility. Construction is set to begin this month on the $7 million expansion where RFW Construction, based out of Dyersburg, Tenn., will design and construct the 32,000-square-foot addition. The new expansion, which includes a mixer that is being installed, will enable the plant to be more competitive.
Pat Jodon, Plant Manager for the Cooper Tire Tupelo, Miss., facility, said, "This expansion will enable Cooper to produce more technologically advanced products and will enable the Company to improve the competitiveness of its operations.
"The Tupelo facility's expansion will also allow us to better serve our customers and improve our competitive advantage in the North American market," Jodon said. "We are grateful for the community and state support we have received for this project."
The addition is the result of an incentive/retention agreement that was reached with the city and the state earlier this year. Construction will begin this month and details of the expansion plan are being finalized. The project is expected to be completed by April 2010 and calls for a new mixing building that will be added to the southwest corner of the plant.
About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car and light truck tires and subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of companies located in 10 countries around the world. For more information, visit Cooper Tire's web site at: www.coopertire.com.
Company Contact: Michelle Zeisloft, 419-423-1321