US-based automotive tire supplier Cooper Tire & Rubber Company will invest about $35.5m for opening a new Global Technical Center (GTC) for developing new tire technology.
The new GTC will be located in Cooper's headquarters community of Findlay in Ohio along with its current North America Technical Center (NATC).
Expected to be fully operational by the end of 2014, the new technical centre will see development of tire science and technology.
Cooper chairman, chief executive officer and president Roy Armes said the technology drives the development of new products that deliver improved performance, environmental advantages and safety benefits for today's drivers.
"At Cooper, we've seen how new products that resonate with our dealers and consumers can give our companies a competitive advantage, and with the GTC, we are building on our already strong capabilities to pursue the newest technologies to drive our business -- and perhaps the tire industry as a whole -- into the future," Armes added.
New technologies developed at the GTC are expected to be provided to the companies' regional technology centers around the world for final product development and industrialization
Cooper Global Research and Development vice president Chuck Yurkovich said the company's focus is on developing 'ready to use' advanced technologies that help it expedite the product development cycle and allow it to create innovations in Findlay and deploy them to meet regional customer and market needs around the world.
"The GTC will help Cooper and its subsidiaries around the world stay ahead of the curve in a very competitive tire industry," Yurkovich added.
Following the announcement, the State of Ohio has offered a $2.8m support for the project under the Third Frontier Industrial Research and Development Center Program (IRDCP) grant.
