Continental Tire the Americas Receives "Best Place to Work" Awards

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C., Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) was recently recognized by two area organizations as a "Best Place to Work."  On Oct. 4, CTA was for the first time recognized by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and SC Biz Magazine as the fourth "Best Place to Work" in South Carolina.  Mostly recently on Nov. 9, CTA was awarded the eighth "Best Place to Work" in the Charlotte area by the Charlotte Business Journal, surpassing the ninth place position the company was awarded in both 2010 and 2011.  

CTA competed in the large business category for both awards, which consists of businesses of more than 250 full-time employees.  The awards recognize companies with benefits, policies and practices that are among the best in the area. Awards are determined by an evaluation of the work environment, which is based on an employee survey managed by a third party. 

"Continental Tire the Americas is a great place to work because of our people and we are honored to be recognized for this award in both Charlotte and the state of South Carolina," said Jochen Etzel, CTA's chief executive officer. 

CTA's corporate headquarters are located in Lancaster County just off of Highway 160 and employs nearly 400 people in the greater Charlotte area.  In addition, CTA is currently building a new manufacturing facility in Sumter, South Carolina that will create 1,600 new jobs.

"Over the next few years we'll be hiring more people at both our Lancaster County office and new plant in Sumter," Etzel said.  "We hope that with additional employees, we will be able to reach more milestones and continue to be a best place to work."  

Due to the significant growth in the business, CTA recently invested $4 million into an expansion of its Lancaster County headquarters, providing a 16,000 square foot addition, which opened on Aug. 24.  The investment also includes the creation of 80 new jobs at the headquarters location over the next four years.

The new addition to CTA's headquarters is part of an even larger company investment into the area with plans to invest more than $500 million to build an all-new tire plant in Sumter, S.C. The first phase of the facility is expected to be complete in 2013.

Continental manufactures and distributes a complete line of Continental and General brand passenger, light truck and commercial tires for original equipment and replacement markets.  Continental's brands are available at leading independent tire dealers, car dealers and mass retail companies across North and South America.

About Continental Corporation

With sales of €30.5 billion in 2011, 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 170,000 employees in 46 countries.

SOURCE Continental Tire the Americas, LLC