As the 2019 year wound up, among the biggest achievements that Cooper Tire had was producing over 400 million tires at its Texarkana-based plant in Arkansas. The tire that got the company to the milestone was produced on 8 February. It was a Discover STT Pro built and designed for extreme weather conditions and off-road performance. One of its most notable features was and still is incredible on-road traction.
The plant has been in operation since 1964 and has about 1,700 people on its payroll. According to the local officials, the plant has had a profound impact on the regional economy. Allen Brown, Mayor Texarkana, Ark., said that the achievement was not just for Cooper Tire Co., but for the entire community.
Cathy Hardin Harrison, Judge from Miller County, said that her county was proud of the strides that Cooper Tire had made together with all its contributions. Among those present at the event were employees and officials from Cooper. The event was organized by the plant manager, Scott Cole, to recognize the dedication and hard work the employees had put and to thank the community for their support.
If all the 400 million Cooper tires were to be stacked end-to-end, they’d cover a stretch of about 200,000 miles. This is equivalent to 8 trips across the world. Cole noted that the company has been dedicated to manufacturing quality tires for more than 50 years. The dedication and commitment have been crucial to the plant’s success.
The plant also got praise from John Bodart, the vice president of global manufacturing at Cooper Tires. He acknowledged the importance of the Texarkana plant in Cooper’s global manufacturing network. The team there comprises a dedicated and strong workforce focused on efficiency and quality. According to Cole, the theme of the celebration was “sustained excellent” which was what got the team to the point they were as of 2019.