'It's A Difficult Scenario:' Senate Committee Looks Into Michelin Plant Closure

The Michelin tire factory in Ardmore has plans to close its doors and we now know the decision was made because the plant is no longer competitive in its global market.

During today’s Senate Select Committee on Business Retention and Economic Development meeting, stakeholders worked with lawmakers to explain why Michelin made the decision to close, and what can be done in the future to keep Oklahoma businesses here for the long run. 

“It's a difficult scenario,” said Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat.

Michelin told stakeholders and Ardmore city leaders that the company wasn't keeping up with the global competition, because the tires made at the factory were so specific and due to the electric vehicle market.

“Even those best intentions again did not prevent a global company from making a decision that looked at their global footprint and unfortunately had an impact on our community,” said Bill Murphy with the Ardmore Development Authority. 

Many lawmakers called Michelin’s decision abrupt and confusing, and are now determining if they could have done anything more with the company, to incentivize them to stay.

“Somewhere down the line, there was some sort of relationship breakdown with Michelin. I truly believe that,” said Sen. Kristen Thompson ( R) Edmond.

Since the announcement that Michelin is closing, many lawmakers have pointed out that the state has been spending a lot of time and effort working to bring large companies into the state, such as Panasonic, Tesla, and Volkswagen over the past few years. 

Lawmakers today said more effort and time should be spent on the companies that have already chosen to be in Oklahoma.

“We spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get people to come to Oklahoma and that's a worthwhile exercise but the vast majority of new jobs in Oklahoma come from existing businesses that are already there so to lose one is a really huge negative impact,” said Treat.

Lawmakers are now working to learn from this situation and see what they can do better going forward.

“One of the beautiful things about this is I think it's going to wake us up to how important intentional relationships are not only with each other but with our stakeholders and our businesses,” said Sen. Thompson. 

Senator Thompson says she is looking at ways to increase face-to-face meetings and wellness checks with private and public businesses across the state to ensure we’re not losing more Oklahoma companies in the future….

“Keep hope, keep optimism that there will be opportunities that are born out of this as well,” said Treat.

The Michelin tire factory in Ardmore plans to fully close by 2025 or sooner, but their rubber production will continue.