Continental Tire the Americas opened its new sustainably designed facility in Fort Mill, S.C., last week with local and state officials, key building project representatives, and corporate social responsibility partners.
The state-of-the-art, 90,000 sq.-ft., building, which sits on 33 acres in northern Lancaster County, has capacity for 350 employees and is designed and built for future expansion potential.
“Another great moment for Continental and for the State of South Carolina,” says Jochen Etzel, CEO Continental Tire the Americas. “Who would have imagined when we moved to the Palmetto state in 2009, that we would have invested over $800 million in our facilities across the state. The U.S. is a strategic growth market for Continental and particularly for our Tire business.” It is with the dedicated support and assistance of the Lancaster County Economic Development Corporation and the State of South Carolina Department of Commerce that this facility is built steps away from the current headquarters building.
Continental states involving employees, managers as well as executives from the project inception allowed every aspect of the facility to be purposefully ideated: from the selection of the architect to the details of the colors and furniture.
“This new structure is so much more than the typical office building,” says Etzel. “In the past, the office was a place you had to come to — our objective for this building was to create a workplace destination that you want to come to.”
From the site layout to the building designed to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification, to the incorporation of energy-saving and efficient materials, the project was carefully planned to be an example of Continental’s sustainability ambitions. LEED is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.
