Continental Tire Unveils Expanded Americas HQ in Lancaster County
Continental Tire the Americas has significantly expanded its Lancaster County headquarters operations.
The tire giant yesterday unveiled its new, 90,000-square-foot office building in Indian Land. The building has capacity for 350 employees and allowed Continental to consolidate operations from several locations in the area. The opening event came after the company moved into the three-story structure last year. The project was first announced back in 2020 after years of planning.
The new office building is at 1794 MacMillan Park Drive, neighboring the company’s longtime Americas headquarters facility. The full Continental Tire the Americas campus includes over 650 employees after the expansion.
The project pushed Continental’s total investment in South Carolina over $800 million since it moved operations there from Charlotte in 2009.
Continental executives were joined by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey III and county officials to celebrate the office building’s opening. Jochen Etzel, CEO of Continental Tire the Americas, said the company has received “unwavering support” from the state and county over the last 15 years.
“Another great moment for Continental and for the state of South Carolina,” Etzel said. “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.”
Continental executive Tim Rogers said planning for the headquarters expansion started in 2017. Continental bought the 33-acre site as part of a nearly $3 million land acquisition in 2019, county real estate records show. Construction on the new building began in 2021, and it was delivered last year.
Continental had employees at other Lancaster County locations, including one on Red Ventures Drive, before the expansion. Those employees were brought into the new office.
The new headquarters building is designed to accommodate future expansions. Continental has built out around 20 acres of the site that houses the new building. There is no specific timetable for the next phase of expansion.
EDIFICE Construction led construction efforts on Continental’s new building in Lancaster County. Gresham Smith led design efforts.
The headquarters campus oversees Continental’s tire production operations throughout North, Central and South America. Continental Tire the Americas is a subsidiary of Germany-based Continental AG.
The Indian Land headquarters was first expanded in 2014 by 16,000 square feet. Company executives knew at the time that more expansion would be needed in the coming years, Rogers said. Continental has another facility in Rock Hill and first began work at its Sumter tire manufacturing facility in 2012. The Sumter plant has been expanded multiple times as well.
Continental employs over 2,000 workers across its S.C. operations, which represents nearly a quarter of the company’s U.S. workforce.
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