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Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions will lay off about 60 workers and close its St. Louis-based Oncor retread facility.
“These have been very difficult decisions to make, but our leadership team has been working diligently on the future direction of the organization,” says Bandag President Saul Solomon.
“Although we’ve taken a number of steps to reduce expenses while enhancing quality, as we continue on our journey of building a unified, customer-focused organization, it was clear we needed to do more,” he continues, saying the actions “reflect our commitment to make good business decisions that will benefit our customers and our business for the long-term.”
The decisions, he says, are also part of the company’s ongoing efforts to “integrate and streamline” into a single truck and retread tire division for “providing programs, services, information and products that reduce fleet operating costs and give dealers the opportunity to enhance their business.”
Solomon goes on to note that “we are 18 months into our integration journey, and we are making great progress in creating one cohesive business unit that has, at its core, a focus on the customer. That said, based upon a comprehensive review of the truck and bus retread marketplace, it is clear that (the company) must take additional steps to streamline operations so we can continue to provide our customers with the best possible service, while positioning (us) for additional growth and profitability in the future.”
Nine positions in Muscatine, Iowa, seven positions in Nashville, Tenn., and 23 field sales positions will be eliminated immediately through consolidation of functions and job responsibilities in the sales, marketing, finance, legal and human resources departments.
Muscatine will remain Bandag’s headquarters, and the finance and marketing teams have been asked to relocate there from Nashville to further the integration plan.
The decision to close the Oncor facility on Jan. 31, which will result in 21 positions being eliminated, was made to align the company under a single Bandag retread brand, according to Solomon, who says dismissed full-time Bandag and Oncor employees will receive outplacement services and severance pay.
The company’s retread retail operations are TDS, GCR Tire Centers and White Tire.
For more information, visit www.bridgestone-firestone.com.
