Bridgestone Americas Thursday announced the opening of a new Bandag Training Center on its Akron, Ohio, campus.
Representing a $3 million investment, Bridgestone says the new center will educate teammates of commercial tire dealers and fleets about the performance, sustainability and financial benefits of retreaded tires. The facility aims to host hundreds of industry professionals each year, providing seminars and tailored classes of all sizes.
“Bandag retreads have been a staple solution in the commercial tire industry for more than half a century,” says Brian Douglas, vice president, Retread North America. “With the addition of this second training center, Bridgestone aims to strengthen its support for dealers and fleets, matching the value they get from retreads on the road.”
The new Bandag Training Center is located in the company’s tire test lab, next to the Bridgestone Americas Advanced Tire Production Center (ATPC) and occupies nearly 15,000 sq.-ft. The company says the center features a complete retread facility, which includes production-scale manufacturing equipment and stations for each of the ten retreading steps, along with a classroom and the Bandag history walk.
The new Akron facility is the second designated Bandag Training Center in the Bridgestone network, joining the established Bandag Learning Center in Muscatine, Iowa.
