CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — A workers rights group claims Giti Tire hasn’t kept its promise to create jobs in Chester County.
The company invested more than half-a-billion dollars into the plant and said it would employ residents to fill 1,700 jobs.
[ RELATED: Despite $560M investment, some say company’s promise to SC has fallen short ]
David Shelton, Giti Tire’s director of industry relations, said they still have time to fulfill their agreement.
“As far as the growth rate toward that targeted number, all those incentives are in place,” Shelton said. “But the timeline was not five years for the 1,700 jobs.”
Channel 9′s Evan Donovan spoke with the Chester County administrator, who said Giti Tire has until the end of 2029 to reach its hiring target.
The company said it has created about 600 jobs so far.
COVID-19 impacted business for Giti Tires because people were not driving as much.
As a result, drivers were not buying new tires, because they were not wearing them down.
Giti Tire announced at the beginning of the pandemic that it was letting go of about 600 people.
The company said it is committed to meeting its target and wants to expand even further.
“I would say 30% of the floor space of the factory with equipment is still not installed yet,” Shelton said. “Those jobs right now, we’re ready to hire 200 people more. Chester, Richburg, Lancaster, and the surrounding counties -- we want to grow our workforce from there.”
Donovan asked whether Giti Tire will request more time to meet that hiring obligation. Officials said they would get back to him.
The Chester County administrator said there is a complex formula for the incentives, which is based on jobs and the amount of money invested.
Giti Tire could under-hire and over-invest while still hitting the target to get those incentives.
VIDEO: Groundbreaking at GiTi plant in SC
This browser does not support the video element.