Almost one year after breaking ground on a its new Mississippi plant, Continental Tire says the company has surpassed several key milestones.
A fact sheet the German manufacturer sent out shows that the company has started installing piling for the 5.2 million square-foot building, cleared 700 acres of land and moved 4 million cubic yards of dirt.
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The earth work, which has sometimes continued throughout the night hours, at the Hinds County facility is now 95 percent complete, the company says.
State and local government leaders kept negotiations to bring Continental secret for several years until just before the 2016 legislative session, when lawmakers pushed through an incentive package worth approximately $600 million. As part of its deal with Mississippi, Continental agreed to create 2,500 jobs that pay an average of $40,000 per year.
Other construction milestones include the laying of 14,000 feet of drain piping, 12,000 feet of concrete piping and four retention ponds that can hold over 64 million gallons of storm runoff.
So far, Continental also says the company has spent $4 million locally, contracting with 14 companies – eight of them from Mississippi, three minority owned firms – with 100 people working on the site.