Rudolph Bell

dbell@greenvillenews.com

Michelin North America isn't saying how many new jobs, if any, it plans at a Piedmont site it has designated for production of its airless tire called the Tweel.

The tire maker announced Thursday that it plans to officially dedicate the new plant during a ceremony next week.

It will take place at the plant site, a 135,000-square-foot former textile warehouse at 280 Griffin Road, Piedmont, the Greenville-based tire maker said.

Michelin North America Chairman and President Pete Selleck will be on hand, the company said in an advisory to news media Thursday.

Michelin spokesperson Stephanie Tarbet said more details would be available at the 10:30 a.m. ceremony next Thursday.

Michelin last month announced a deal to make the Tweel original equipment for John Deere's ZTRAK 900 Series commercial mowers.

Michelin at the time listed various benefits it said landscape professionals would enjoy by using the Tweel on mowers. Those included less downtime from flat tires, enhanced hillside stability and longer-lasting treads.

Ralph Dimenna, head of Michelin Tweel Technologies, said as part of the October announcement that Michelin had been working on a partnership with John Deere for several years that had the potential to "dramatically change the commercial mowing market."

The Tweel was developed at Michelin's research center in southern Greenville County and announced as an invention in 2005. In subsequent months, it was designated "Best of What's New" in automotive technology by Popular Science and made the cover of Time magazine as one of the top inventions of 2005.

The Tweel is a combination of a tire and a wheel, with flexible spokes leading to a shock-absorbing rubber tread band.