Michelin
Michelin and South Carolina made a successful match. The company was not secretive about its conservative character and dislike of unions, and in South Carolina, Michelin found a base that suited its corporate values and business objectives.
This company is a French tire manufacturing giant whose roots extend to the 1860s. Michelin has approximately 128,000 workers and eighty production facilities on five continents, including a substantial business presence in South Carolina.
Michelin came to South Carolina in the mid-1970s as a part of its massive campaign to expand its North American market share. As the American demand for the Michelin-developed radial tires grew, the company expanded rapidly. Michelin opened its Greenville tire factory in March 1975, followed by a factory for semifinished materials in Anderson later the same year. Laurens testing center opened in 1977, and a truck tire factory in Spartanburg opened one year later. Initial estimates of Michelin’s investments in the state were in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Michelin and South Carolina made a successful match. The company was not secretive about its conservative character and dislike of unions, and in South Carolina, Michelin found a base that suited its corporate values and business objectives. While its corporate culture was in line with South Carolina traditions, local workers welcomed Michelin’s high wages and impressive benefits. Over the years the company expanded its operations in the state. In 1985 it even moved its U.S. headquarters from New York to Greenville.
Scott-Stokes, Henry. “Michelin Quietly Bets a Billion.” New York Times, January 29, 1978, sec. 3, pp. 1, 7.
