Cooper Tire’s Texarkana plant receives Governor’s Award for Excellence

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.’s operations in Texarkana received the Governor’s Award in the large manufacturing exporter category at the 8th annual Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Global Trade.

The award was one of five presented to winning companies from Arkansas on May 24 at an event held at the governor’s mansion in Little Rock, hosted by the Arkansas District Export Council (ArDEC).

Gov. Asa Hutchinson presented this year’s awards, and Cooper, which operates a tire production plant, distribution center and retail store in Texarkana, was cited specifically for working aggressively to maintain quality and the international demand for its products.

The company has a strong international presence across the globe with the Texarkana operations helping to support product sales in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, Australia, China and other nations. Established in 1964, the Texarkana tire plant produces light vehicle tires and employs approximately 2,000 workers.

“Trade is vitally important for Arkansas. Increasing exports of Arkansas-made and Arkansas-grown products results in two excellent outcomes: it produces extra capital for companies to invest in their facilities and creates new employment opportunities for Arkansans,” Hutchinson said.

Cooper Texarkana plant manager Scott Cole said the plant was “honored,” adding the “outstanding team” in Texarkana “has my personal thanks for helping to make our operations worthy of this distinction.”

“Nothing happens without great people, and Cooper Texarkana, as well as the entire state of Arkansas, is fortunate to have many. It is exciting that the high quality, great-performing tires we make and distribute out of Texarkana are sold and end up on vehicles around the globe. We are pleased to be an important part of our state’s economy and the global tire industry,” Cole said.

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB) is the parent company of a global family of companies that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tires. Cooper’s headquarters is in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations within its family of companies located in more than one dozen countries around the world.

ArDEC is a non-profit organization comprised of members of Arkansas’s exporting community. ArDEC members are appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and actively encourage manufacturers across the state to consider exporting as a realistic opportunity for growth. ArDEC states that it’s goal is to “tear down barriers to exporting, by providing guidance, training and connections that make the prospect of entering new markets less daunting.”

Applications for next year’s Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Global Trade will open Jan. 1, 2018.