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Category: Job Creation
Project: Continental Tire Sumter
Project Location: 1805 Highway 521, Sumter, SC 29153
Status: Complete
Cost: $106,227,000
Description: In October of 2011, Continental executives along with the Governor of South Carolina
announced a new passenger/light truck tire manufacturing facility in Sumter, SC. The
announcement ended an six month site selection process where the Continental team evaluated 12
states and 2 countries. Critical to selecting the best location for the new facility was finding a
location that could accommodate the plant dimensions in addition to providing the needed water,
sewer, road, rail, and port infrastructure. The ideal location also had to be a place where
Continental could find, recruit and train a quality workforce in a state and community that would
support Continental and manufacturing for the life of the facility. Site preparation for the plant began
almost immediately and by June of 2012, a construction team had been selected and footings were
being completed. The Continental team has constructed the 1 million square foot plant, coordinated
and installed customized tire building equipment, and hired/trained the start up team. The hard
work paid off because in October 2013 the Sumter plant got corporate approval to begin production,
three months ahead of schedule. In January 2014, Governor Haley and company executives
returned to Sumter to celebrate the official grand opening of the facility. Today the facility is
continuing to improve in all areas. There are approximately 625 employees of the 1,600 that will be
employed by 2021. Training and recruiting are ongoing. The tires made in the Sumter facility are
being shipped to customers across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Community Needs Addressed: Sumter County, SC is a community of just over 108,000 with more
than half of the citizens being minorities and more than 17% living at the poverty level. The
announcement of Continental was met with huge excitement. Sumter citizens lined Main Street to
welcome company executives in October of 2011 after the announcement. Almost immediately,
Sumter felt the impact of Continental. Local businesses including hotels and restaurants have seen
a surge in business. A Starbucks has opened. Hardware stores and other retailers have benefited
as ex-pats arrived in the community. Continental's investment is the largest single private
investment in Sumter County by a factor of ten. Continental will spend more than a half billion
dollars creating and populating its million-square-foot facility, which doubled the community’s
manufacturing footprint. In January 2014, Continental announced that over $100,000,000 had
already been spent with local companies just during the construction. By 2020, Continental will be
the community’s largest private employer and will pay nearly $3,000,000 annually in local taxes.
According to a statement released by NDC, “The jobs are expected to pay wages 25 percent higher
than the median income earned in Sumter and spur more than $670 million in related economic
activity in the area.” In 2011, the county unemployment rate was 11% as of December 2014. It is
down to 6.8% and per capita income has increased 11.3% since 2011, from $29,915 to $33,310 in
2013. Continental has also donated more than $50,000 to local charities including a $25,000
donation to the Sumter County School District, a long-term commitment to Poinsett State Park to
restore bicycle trails, and sponsored volunteer days at local organizations including Habitat for
Humanity and the YWCA.
NDC Academy 2015
Job Creation
Continental Tire Sumter
Benefits and Outcome: Since October 2011, Continental has committed to invest $500,000,000
and hired 625 employees. During the plant's construction phase alone, Continental spent more
than $100,000,000 with state businesses. The benefits and outcomes of the partnership of the
NMTC program in Sumter, SC will be measured for decades. However the Sumter County
Development Board’s goal is to raise the per capita income of the citizens in the county. That goal
is already being met with an 11.3% increase since 2011. New businesses/restaurants and hotels
are opening. Suppliers, like King Machine are locating in the community (investing $3,000,000/hiring
20). Formerly blighted buildings are being renovated; the under employed now have new/better
paying jobs building tires but long term the biggest yet hardest to measure impact may be the focus
now being placed on technical education. The local technical college with the help of state and
federal dollars has broken ground on a $13 million Advanced Manufacturing Training Center. Not
only will this facility train employees for Continental but the mechatronics program will produce
graduates that will benefit all manufactures in the region. The Advanced Manufacturing facility will
be housed in an abandoned Wal-Mart. This area previously blighted will soon be an improved route
into the community. The community has also benefited from the presence of ReadySC, the State of
SC’s training and recruiting program. ReadySC, a division of the South Carolina Technical Colleges
System, works with companies to deliver qualified candidates to companies that are creating new
jobs. Continental has also partnered with ApprenticeshipSC to create apprenticeship programs for
mechatronic students, for high school students and veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce.
The school district has received pilot funding for a technical/manufacturing certificate program that
allows students to finish high school ready for work.
Project Collaborators: Once Continental had selected the preferred site, it was critical to have
partners that would help develop the project into a globally competitive state-of-the-art
manufacturing facility. The partnership and creative financing options only helped to prove why
Sumter, SC was the best choice for this investment. The State of SC/SC Department of Commerce
provided daily support during the site selection and throughout the start up. The state provided a
competitive incentives package and provided expertise to take full advantage of those incentives.
Sumter County, the City of Sumter and the Development Board welcomed Continental. They
provided water, sewer and road infrastructure as well as providing tax abatements to make the
community more competitive. National Development Council, Community Reinvestment Fund, Inc.,
Chase New Markets Corporation, People Incorporated Financial Services and the Community
Reinvestment Fund, USA helped Continental achieve the benefits of the NMTC program. The SC
Port Authority provided funding for infrastructure at the site, delivered time sensitive equipment to
the site ahead of schedule and works with the plant continuously to transport raw materials from
around the globe. SC DHEC worked with Continental to achieve a fast turnaround on all required
permits. ReadySC / Apprenticeship SC have recruited and trained all of the employees. Central
Carolina Tech. College is building an Advance Manufacturing Training Center for the training of
future employees and developing mutually beneficial apprenticeship/ curriculum. The Sumter
County delegation has been great ambassadors for the community to Continental. Each member
has been responsive and supportive during the start up. Senators Graham and Scott and the
Congressional delegation has continued to support the NMTC program, apprenticeship programs
and deepening the Port of Charleston. Other partners: SB Friedman & Company; Novogradac &
Company; Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone LLP
NDC Academy 2015
Job Creation
Continental Tire Sumter
What Makes Your Project Unique? : This project is unique not only for the New Market Tax Credit
Program but also for Continental.
When Congress authorized the NMTC program in 2000 the primary mission was to spur new/
increased investment into projects in low income communities. The majority of the projects since
that time have been in urban areas partnering with non-profit organizations. This project was
different. Here the NMTC program was used to help a low income area bring a global manufacturer
into their community to produce a highly engineered product. This partnership wisely included the
type of manufacturing that historically remains in a community for decades and continues to grow
and make investments. The 625 jobs that have been created have already helped to increase the
areas per capita income. The infusion of investment and opportunity into the community has also
generated a renewed long term investment in technical education. For Continental this project was
also unique contrary to the trend in recent decades of outsourcing production overseas, Continental
Tire had a strong value proposition to bring their product closer to the American market and the
Sumter location played an integral role in this process. After a record sales year in 2014, the project
proved its worth by not only positively impacting the Sumter community, but strengthening the
company's ability to supply the market, multiplying the effects of economic growth and benefit
among our distribution centers, independent tire dealers and ultimately our end customers.
Organization’s Name: Continental Tire the Americas, LLC
Website: http://www.continentaltire.com
Main Contact: Michael Worthington
Email: michael.worthington@conti-na.com
Phone Number: 704-583-8550
NDC Academy 2015
Job Creation
Continental Tire Sumter
NDC Academy 2015
Job Creation
Continental Tire Sumter
$
$
$
$
Reimbursement to CDE's
Construction Period Interest
Audit Fees
Loan Origination Fees
Version: October 2014
$
NMTC Legal & Pro Fees
106,226,494
264,000
30,000
2,334,717
348,512
766,935
102,482,330
Amount
Project Name: Continental Tire Sumter
Project Contact: Michael Worthington
Submission Category: Job Creation
Total Uses of Funds $
$
Property, Plant & Equipment purchases
Use
Uses of Funds
$
$
$
$
UA QLICI Loan A
UA QLICI Loan B
InterCo Loan
Member Equity
106,226,494
4,677,032
43,589,462
2,709,198
6,990,802
1,830,538
4,889,462
2,354,978
6,285,022
5,427,332
17,472,668
2,924,708
7,075,292
Amount
Total Uses = Total Sources
Total Sources of Funds $
$
$
PIFS QLICI Loan A
PIFS QLICI Loan B
$
$
$
$
$
$
NDC QLICI Loan B
NDC QLICI Loan A
CRF QLICI Loan B
CRF QLICI Loan A
CNMC QLICI Loan B
CNMC QLICI Loan A
Source
Sources of Funds
PROJECT SOURCES & USES OF FUNDS
NDC Academy 2015
Job Creation
Continental Tire Sumter