Governor Lee, Commissioner McWhorter Announce Bridgestone to Invest $550 Million to Expand Warren County Manufacturing Operations

  • Nashville, Tennessee-based Bridgestone will create 380 new jobs in Morrison
  • Company’s flagship truck and bus radial tire plant will support growing demand in the commercial vehicle sector

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter and Bridgestone Americas officials today announced the company will invest $550 million in a major expansion and modernization project at its Warren County truck and bus radial tire plant in Morrison.

Bridgestone’s investment strengthens the global competitiveness of the company’s U.S. manufacturing operations and commitment to its U.S. labor force. Bridgestone will create 380 new jobs at its Warren County facility, increasing its existing headcount of 1,100 to more than 1,400, and bringing the total number of Bridgestone’s U.S. manufacturing workforce to nearly 10,000.

The 850,000-square-foot expansion is slated to begin before the end of the year, with construction expected to be substantially completed by May 2024. Once finished, the facility’s footprint will grow from 1.97 million square feet to 2.8 million square feet.

Bridgestone’s Warren County expansion will support increased capacity and accelerate the use of advanced technologies that support cleaner, safer and more efficient commercial truck and bus fleets. The $550 million investment will allow for all tires made in Morrison to be equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, which will enable more efficient asset management and optimization of fleets’ investment in tires, including retreading. The plant will also incorporate technology for digital readiness in tires, including the integration of tire-mounted sensors that support advanced, data-driven insights for more efficient fleet management.

The Warren County plant is one of Bridgestone’s most productive operations globally. The plant has a long history of outstanding performance and best practices in manufacturing, with its 70 millionth tire produced in October 2021.

Since 2018, TNECD has supported 28 economic development projects in the Upper Cumberland region, resulting in more than 2,350 job commitments and $428 million in capital investment.

About Brad Jones

Brad is the Owner/Operator of BBB TV 12, and has been with the company since August of 1996. Brad is a 1987 graduate of Coalfield High School and a 1995 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Communications. He won the 1995 broadcast production student of the year award. Brad worked at Shop at Home, Inc. a home shopping network that was located in Knoxville, TN from 1993 - 1995 and then at Via TV (RSTV, Inc.) from 1995 - 1996. After some freelance work in Nashville, Brad joined the BBB Communications staff in August of 1996. A short stint at WVLT TV as a news photographer was in 2001, but he continued to work at BBB TV as well. Brad is married to Nicole Jenkins Jones, a 1990 graduate of Oak Ridge High School, who works at Oak Ridge Gastroenterology and Associates in Oak Ridge. They have 3 kids, Trevor Bogard, 27, Chandler 22, and Naomi 13. On December 12, 2013 they welcomed their first grandchild, Carter Ryan Bogard. Brad is also the assistant boys basketball coach at Coalfield High School for the past 11 years. In 2013-14 the Yellow Jackets won their first district title since 1991 and just the 4th in school history.

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