Carlisle Tire & Wheel (CTW) says it will consolidate its manufacturing facility in Carlisle, Pa., with the former Bowdon, Ga., manufacturing plant and portions of its Chinese operations.
They will be brought together in Jackson, Tenn., where the company recently purchased a 568,000-square-foot facility. Jackson is located between Memphis and Nashville.
After the fire loss of the Bowdon facility in November 2008, Carlisle conducted a nationwide search to determine an optimal location to relocate or rebuild the operation. (A temporary manufacturing facility was established in a leased facility in nearby Heflin, Ala.)
CTW will continue to operate its 260,000-square-foot distribution center in Carlisle, Pa., which employs approximately 67 people. Additionally, Carlisle’s largest operation, Carlisle Construction Materials, which employs approximately 475 people in Pennsylvania, will continue to be headquartered in Carlisle.
“Carlisle Companies Inc. (CTW's parent company) has been deeply entrenched in the community of Carlisle, Pa., since this company began in 1917, deriving our name from the town," says CTW President Fred Sutter.
"Though one of the CTW facilities will be relocating, we continue to be committed to the Carlisle community and the excellent relationship we have had with them. The Jackson, Tenn., facility affords CTW an ideal location, more centralized to our markets with excellent expansion opportunities.
"This strategic move will strengthen CTW’s competitive advantage, improve our workflow and help us to maximize the benefit of the 'Carlisle Operating System,' Carlisle’s standardized manufacturing structure and system that allows us to improve our overall profitability and increase shareholder value.”
The transition of moving production from the manufacturing facilities in Carlisle, Helfin and China to Jackson will take place over the next 18 months, according to Sutter.
"We will be offering our employees the opportunity to pursue employment at other Carlisle facilities in the area, relocation opportunities to other Carlisle facilities outside the area, or retention bonuses and outplacement services to help them transition to other opportunities.”
