Michelin employees and South Carolina officials gathered at the French company's United States headquarters in Greenville on Tuesday to celebrate 50 years of manufacturing in the Palmetto State.
The tire manufacturing company opened its first plant in Anderson in 1974. About 15 years later, the company headquarters moved from Lake Success, New York, to Greenville. Today, Michelin employs nearly 10,000 South Carolinians and has brought the state $266 billion in revenue since operations began, according to a study from the University of South Carolina.
Gov. Henry McMaster also spoke at the ceremony and lauded Michelin's impact on the state's economy.
"I'm just thrilled to see that a leader like this company, like Michelin, is stating for the world to know that it all depends on the people," he said. "In South Carolina right now, because of the laws, because of our assets, because of the water, the land, the system we're putting in place - the best technical college system in the whole world, our future is absolutely unlimited."
Incoming CEO Matthew Cabe said the company's success is because its leaders are committed to the people who work there.
"We have a lot of really tenured people here, as you go around the room: Two years, five years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years of people that stay with us is not an anomaly, and it's because we give these people the opportunity to be successful," Cabe said. "I think what we've done in South Carolina is what we will continue to do here, and that is give people opportunities to be successful and to experience new things."
South Carolina leads the United States in tire manufacturing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Carolina also has more tire builders than any other state.
"We are a true tire powerhouse," said Ashley Teasdel, the state's deputy secretary of commerce. "We lead the nation in the export sale of tires with 2023 sales reaching $1.8 billion accounting for more than one-third of the total U.S. market share. Unsurprisingly, South Carolina is also the number one producer of tires in the United States, manufacturing approximately 144,000 tires each day."
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Annually, the company brings in an average of $8 billion each year to the state economy and provides about $2 billion in labor income. According to the USC study, it replaced the waning textile industry that once called the Upstate home.
The USC study also found that Michelin's impact touches each county of the state.
Michelin employs 9,518 South Carolina residents, most of whom work in Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson or Lexington. Indirectly, Michelin contributes to more than 24,000 jobs, the study found.
Michelin's first manufacturing site, US2, broke ground in 1973 in Anderson. It was followed by two Greenville locations, US0 and US1, then US3 in Spartanburg and US5 in Lexington.
Greg Davenport will celebrate 30 years with Michelin next week. He's a safety instructor at the Lexington plant. His father was the first person hired to work at that plant in 1979 before the lot had even been cleared.
Davenport and his brothers, Butch and Brian, cut firewood from the trees on the lot before the plant was built. Butch joined his father as a Michelin employee in 1985, followed by Brian in 1992 and their maternal uncles. Davenport joined the company in 1994 at age 27 and still works at Michelin as a safety instructor.
"All the folks that I've ever worked for there have always been family-oriented and willing to help you out, and just good people," he said. "That's what's kept me there for that long. In this day and time, people just don't stay with companies for 30 years."
This year, he'll be the last Davenport brother to retire.
"Michelin afforded us the ability to retire early," he said. "I'll be 58-years-old, and I'm retiring."
Respect for people is one of Michelin's core values, along with respect for the planet, shareholders, and customers and prioritizing facts. It's those same values that have inspired Cabe, the CEO, to stay for nearly 20 years.
"The values of the company align perfectly with who I am," Cabe said. "We're trying to do things for the right reasons. We mess up sometimes. We're not always perfect, but what we're doing here is always aligned with our values. We judge ourselves against that, and for me, it keeps me because I know we're trying to do our best."
Those values also include finding more sustainable methods of production and materials.
Terry Redmile, senior vice president of manufacturing in the Americas, said that Michelin has made tires from 58% renewable or recycled material. The company has committed to using 100% sustainable material by 2050.
He said Michelin tested tires this year made from rice husks and organic silica, along with micronized rubber powder from recycled carbon black.
"We are getting closer every year," Redmile said.