Yokohama to Build Truck Tire Plant in Mississippi

Yokohama Tire Corp. said it signed an agreement to build a $300 million commercial truck tire plant in West Point, Miss.

The company said it expects to initially hire 500 employees for the plant and future expansions could quadruple original employment levels.

The tire maker said this will be the first time the company has built a factory in the United States and it expects the plant to produce 1 million tires annually starting in 2015.

Construction of the plant, which will be on 500 acres, is scheduled to begin in September and completed two years later, Yokohama said.