Construction Milestone Celebrated at Continental Tire Plant in Mt. Vernon, Illinois

MT. VERNON, Ill., June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) today celebrated a significant milestone in the construction process of the expansion of the Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) production area in its Mt. Vernon, Illinois plant. City officials and Continental employees were invited to sign a steel beam which will be placed in the 80,000 square-foot production expansion.

Event attendees, including Mt. Vernon mayor Mary Jane Chesley were able to see first-hand how far construction has progressed at the site since the announcement of the expansion in January 2013.

"We are committed to the city of Mt. Vernon and the state of Illinois, and we want to share our successes with them," said Benny Harmse, Mt. Vernon plant manager. "It is exciting to see such great things happening for the Continental plant as well as for the local community. It signifies the progress and commitment of our company.  This is progress, and represents the job opportunity and economic vitality Continental continues to bring to the Mt. Vernon area."

Construction remains on schedule and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. In addition to the beam signing, attendees were given a tour of the facility.  The tour began in the Commercial Vehicle Tire side of the facility and ended on the Passenger and Light Truck (PLT) side, where the 2011 announced expansion is nearly 95% complete.

"I would like to congratulate our employees and contractors on the significant progress made on key areas of the plant including the mixing, warehouse and PLT expansion areas," said Harmse.

Commercial Vehicle Tire benefits from $95 million investment and increased capacity
With an investment of almost $95 million, the Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) production area will increase production to an annual volume of more than 3 million truck tires when completed.  Included in this investment is a new mixer to support the additional tire production and the introduction of equipment for emerging tire technologies, including wide base truck tires. The CVT investment supports the addition of more than 80 new full-time positions and is expected to be completed in mid-2015.

"This investment will help us continue to produce some of the most technologically advanced commercial vehicle tires on the market, and also addresses our growth in the region," said Paul Williams, executive vice president, Truck Tires – the Americas. "Our research and development engineers for the Americas, working at our Truck Tire Technology Center in Mt. Vernon, have developed tires and technologies for a complete lifecycle solution that begins with excellence in new tire production. In turn, our customers have responded with increased demand for our tires."

"With the investment in the Mt. Vernon CVT production area, we are adding volume and enhancing our capabilities for advanced technologies to increase our ability to anticipate the market demands of the future. This investment is further commitment to Continental's strategy for growth in the Americas," Williams said.

"As construction continues, we will focus on recruiting, training and developing our team," said Harmse. "Some of the key positions we will recruit for this year include supervisors, machine operators, material handlers and crew members to support our CVT production." 

Altogether, Continental has invested more than $615 million since 2006 into the Mt. Vernon facility. Since 2010, Continental has added 770 full-time jobs.

About Continental Corporation
With sales of €32.7 billion in 2012, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires, and technical elastomers, Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also an expert partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently has approximately 173,000 employees in 46 countries.

As one of the world's leading tire manufacturers, with more than 41,000 employees, the Tire Division achieved cumulative sales of more than €8.8 billion in 2011. Today, the division has 22 production and development locations worldwide. The broad product range and continuous investments in Research and Development make a major contribution to cost-effective and ecologically efficient mobility.

The Commercial Vehicle Tire business is one of the largest manufacturers of truck, bus and commercial specialty tires worldwide.

Continental's Tire Division is an Official Sponsor of the German DFB Cup, 2014 FIFA World CupTM in Brazil and the UEFA EURO 2016TM in France.

 Media database: www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com

SOURCE Continental Tire the Americas, LLC