Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, headquartered in Ohio, is in conversation with the United Steelworkers union to close its North Carolina plant in Fayetteville next year.
The job loss will be about 1,700. Incentive packages funneled to the facility in the last 20 years are valued at an estimated $41 million, with another $40 million thwarted by a governor’s veto stamp.
“As the only remaining U.S.-based tire manufacturer, we are committed to U.S. manufacturing in today’s evolving market,” a company statement says. “This difficult action is necessary to strengthen Goodyear’s ability to compete in today’s marketplace and support the long-term health of the business.”
Goodyear earlier this month reported a $249 million net loss on $3.9 billion in net sales.
Fayetteville’s population has risen from about 208,000 in 2020 to nearly 212,000 in 2024, according to the Office of State Budget and Management. Cumberland County had a July 1 estimate of nearly 341,000, up from 338,000 in 2020. Goodyear is among the top 10 employers supplying jobs for each.
Threats to close the plant have existed for a decade or more, typically answered through incentives. The facility of 2.2 million square feet is on a 403-acre tract on Ramsey Street, its distinctive rooftop often used as a point of reference by aircraft in approach to Fort Bragg.
The plant opened Dec. 13, 1969, as Goodyear subsidiary Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. Peak operations were in 2004 at 65,000 tires a day, according to published reports.
