The Chester News and Reporter ran an editorial on June 30, 2021 by Phang Wai Yeen, Chief Executive Officer of Giti Tire Manufacturing (USA) Ltd. See the story below.
In 2014, Giti Tire announced that its first plant in North America would be built in Chester County, South Carolina. This announcement started Giti Tire’s commitment to partnering with the people of Chester County to build long-term success and security. In 2017, we started production. Moving from a green field to production in less than three years confirmed that Giti Tire had selected the right location.
Through the end of 2019, Giti Tire continued to make progress and work through our start-up. Because of the hard work and efforts of the Giti Tire team, things were moving forward. Starting production was challenging, expanding production and adding new team members was challenging, providing world-class tire building skills was challenging. However, all these challenges were met based on a commitment to work together.
As we approached the end of 2019, we faced challenges, but progress was clear. Then, like everyone else in the nation, Giti Tire was blind-sided by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced a host of changes big and small in every aspect of our lives and in our progress towards making our plant in Chester County a world-class facility. While 2020 was hard, we survived.
As we transition into a post-pandemic world and get back to business in 2021, Giti Tire, like all companies has been forced to re-evaluate its operations, its future, and its commitments. While some companies may have questions about what they need to do, that is not the case with Giti Tire.
Despite setbacks to our start-up efforts, Giti Tire has no questions about its decision to start its operations in Chester County and everything it has done to ensure the success of its operations and surrounding community. In fact, Giti Tire’s commitment to Chester County is stronger than ever.
Giti has shown a commitment to work with our team members to make real contributions in Chester County. We recognized the importance of being a responsible corporate citizen. Our very first commitment to the community was the Giti Math and Science Competition for the Chester County School District, which was interrupted by the pandemic but will resume once again in the coming school year. During the pandemic, our efforts continued with events like “Trunk or Treat” with the Chester City Police Department and local YMCA, a farmer’s market where food was donated to local families for Thanksgiving, and a Christmas “Angel Tree” that provided financial support for deserving families. These efforts are examples of how Giti Tire is committed to the Chester County community and we look forward to expanding our efforts in the future.
We have a positive outlook. It is estimated that Giti will generate approximately 5,000 direct and indirect jobs for the region, which translates into a positive $1.2 billion impact on Chester County and the surrounding areas. We have also seen success in racing competition. The GT Radial competition tire manufactured here in Chester County has performed well at Formula Drift competitions, including a 2nd place finish at the most recent event. This demonstrates that Giti Tire is producing high performance tires right here in Chester County.
With this positive momentum, we know that together, we can get past this pandemic, continue expansion plans and provide opportunities and a successful future for our team members. Giti Tire wants to ensure that the economic success of Chester County and surrounding community continues improving and we have a positive plan and commitment to do this. We look forward to working with our team members and local community to meet this goal.
And, of course, if you need a secure job in a growing industry, or need high-quality, affordable American-made tires, consider Giti Tire.