SC-based Strategic Development Group helps Bridgestone APM choose site for new facility
December 22, 2015
Strategic Development Group (SDG), one of the nation’s leading corporate site selection and economic development consulting firms, has helped Bridgestone APM Company locate and secure a site in Wheatfield, N.Y. (Niagara County) for construction of a new facility to produce seat foam for the automotive market. Bridgestone recently announced its new facility.
Bridgestone APM will lease a building that is under construction and invest an additional $5 million in machinery and equipment. The 65,000 square-foot state-of-the-art manufacturing plant will be constructed on an 11-acre site, and is projected to create 89 jobs within the next five years. Much of the seat foam produced at the new plant will be exported to Canada for its automotive market.
Strategic Development Group provided site selection services and facilitated incentive negotiations with state and local government officials and utilities. SDG works with companies across many industries, but one of its areas of specialization is helping automotive suppliers.
“It has been a true privilege to help locate a strategic site and to negotiate incentives on behalf a world-renowned company like Bridgestone APM – one that desires to contribute positively to a community,” said SDG President Mark Williams. “This announcement will have long-term positive impact on both the company and the community.”
This announcement is the most recent collaboration between Strategic Development Group and Bridgestone APM. The relationship between the two companies began in 2003 when SDG helped Bridgestone locate its fourth U.S. production facility in Dickson, Tennessee.
“We find it very rewarding to develop long-term relationships with the companies we assist,” said Williams. “We believe the fact that Bridgestone APM has called us to help choose the right site over and over again is a true testament to the consistent value they see in the service we provide. We are honored to work with this industry leader.”
About Strategic Development Group
Strategic Development Group (www.StrategicDev.com), headquartered in Columbia, S.C., is a site selection, incentive negotiation, and economic development consulting firm, providing services for companies and communities worldwide. SDG has completed several successful projects during the last 12 months, in addition to working with Bridgestone APM. Recent examples include Commercial Metals Company’s steel mill in Durant, Okla. (300 jobs), Bridgestone Americas’ consolidated headquarters facility in Nashville, Tenn. (1,700 jobs), automotive supplier JTEKT’s new North American headquarters in Greenville County, S.C., and Indorama Ventures’ ethane cracker facility in Lake Charles, La. (125 jobs).
About Bridgestone APM Company
Bridgestone APM Company is an anti-vibration products, energy absorption pads, interior cushions automotive parts manufacturer and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation located in Tokyo, Japan.
About Bridgestone Corporation
Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in over 150 nations and territories around the world.
