A NEW SET OF TIRES: Triangle Tyre's new facility is anticipated to bring a $580 million investment to Edgecombe County.

• Author: Saylor, Teri
• Position: REGIONAL REPORT: NASH AND EDGECOMBE COUNTIES

Construction for Triangle Tyre's first manufacturing facility outside China is just a few months away with a project set to bring 800 jobs to the area in the next four years.

The facility, part of Triangle Tyre's subsidiary Triangle Tire USA, will be located in the 1,449-acre Kingsboro CSX Select Megasite in eastern North Carolina. Kingsboro CSX's water, sewer, natural gas and electricity infrastructure is completely installed, and the site is construction ready. Triangle Tyre will begin constructing its facility this fall.

"We've been working on the site for 18 years, and it is one of the older, if not the oldest, construction-ready sites in the state," says Norris Tolson, CEO and president of the Carolinas Gateway Partnership.

In late 2017, the Chinese tire manufacturer staked its claim on 400 acres in the megasite. The manufacturing facility, to be built in two phases, will take up nearly a third of the site when construction is complete in 2023. Representatives with Triangle Tire USA did not return requests for comment.

Tolson says the manufacturer considered locations across the entire Southeast. The convenient location and the readily available workforce won the project for North Carolina.

"We were very competitive," Tolson says. "Anytime a company like Triangle Tyre wants 400 acres on a site, you hope they look at you. The site was available and ready to build on, and it met the company's criteria. It provides good access in and out of the area, and the community has a readily available workforce."

The company will invest nearly $580 million in Edgecombe County and create 800 jobs in the two phases of construction. The first phase will manufacture tires for passenger cars and trucks and is expected to begin production in 2020. Phase 2 will focus on production of large commercial vehicles such as earth-moving equipment.

This project was the state's most lucrative economic development announcement in 2017, according to a report by the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper called the project "the largest-ever manufacturing investment in rural North Carolina."

Tolson says Triangle Tyre will offer a variety of jobs, including corporate executives, research and development personnel, line workers, quality control, logistics and maintenance in Edgecombe County. Salaries will average about $56,000 plus benefits.

The Kingsboro Megasite is located five miles east of Rocky Mount and six miles west of Tarboro. It...