Aug. 6, 1997: A story in the Wall Street Journal breaks the news that Aiken County likely will become home to a Bridgestone Corporation plant. PDF

Aug. 26, 1997: Bridgestone/Firestone South Carolina formally announces that the company will spend $435 million on a plant in Aiken County that will cover 1.5 million square feet, employ up to 800 workers and turn out 25,000 tires a day. PDF

Sept. 2, 1997: The Aiken County Council gives unanimous approval to a resolution that empowers its chairman to sign contracts involved with the siting of the Bridgestone Tire Plant. The council also gave approval to ordinances authorizing Bridgestone to issue tax-free industrial revenue bonds from $400 million up to $1.1 billion to build and equip the plant. PDF

Aug. 26, 1998: Bridgestone/Firestone South Carolina celebrates its first anniversary of the announcement to build the plant in Aiken County. The project resulted in the single largest international investment for Aiken County, and the second largest capital investment for the county. On the anniversary, the company was producing its first test tires. “I have been involved in many such construction projects, but to have a facility this size constructed and producing a test tire within a year is amazing,” Trevor Hoskins, Bridgestone/Firestone senior vice president for public affairs said at the time.PDF

March 17, 1999: Bridgestone/Firestone South Carolina celebrates its first tire shipment. PDF

Sept. 27, 1999: Bridgestone/Firestone is honored by then-Gov. Jim Hodges as one of the top 10 manufacturing facilities in the state, and was operating at full capacity with 700 employees. “We have made over 800,000 tires since the start of production,” community relations coordinator Mary McLaughlin said at the time. PDF

Dec. 22, 1999: Steve Brooks, vice president of manufacturing operations for Bridgestone/Firestone Tire Co., announces the plant’s first expansion, a $24 million rubber mixing facility, only two years after it opened. “We, as a team, are very proud to accomplish our objectives in such a short time,” Brooks said at the 1999 groundbreaking. PDF

Dec. 8, 2006: Steve Brooks, vice president of manufacturing operations for Bridgestone/Firestone, announces the company will invest at least $33 million over five years to upgrade the then 9-year-old tire manufacturing plant near Graniteville, “Automobiles are going to more performance-type tires and larger rim diameter. This investment is to help us prepare to do that,” he said at the time. PDF

July 20, 2011: Bridgestone announces it’s expanding production at its Aiken County plant with a $135 million investment, creating more than 120 full-time jobs. The plant will produce an additional 4,750 passenger and light-truck tires in the second quarter of 2013, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations said.

Sept. 21, 2011:Bridgestone Americas announces a $1.2 billion investment in a new facility, expected to create more than 850 new jobs. It's the largest single initial capital investment in state’s history.