Stanly County and two towns will offer Michelin $900,000 in incentives for the promise of adding 70 jobs to the company’s aircraft tire plant just outside of Norwood. Michelin plans to spend $11 million to expand its aircraft tire retreading operation and add the jobs to the plant’s work force of 320.
Kevin Gullette, executive director of the Stanly County Economic Development Commission says the tire company attracted 1,100 applications through the North Carolina Employment Security Commission when it announced hiring plans. The expansion is slated to be completed in the first quarter of 2011.
The expansion will bring retreading of aviation tires to complement the current new aviation tire business. The new jobs will vary in salary depending on job function. However, the annual wage will be $35,884 plus benefits. The Stanly County average is $28,288.
“Michelin’s Norwood facility is where some of the best aviation tires in the world are made: tires for commercial planes, military jets and the space shuttle,” noted Dick Wilkerson, chairman and president of Michelin North America.
The Norwood plant has produced tires for the space shuttle and is also the major supplier of every branch of the U.S. According to aviation officials, on commercial airlines, 25 percent of the tires are new while 75 percent are retreads; tires are retreaded 3-5 times each.
