Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) today announced the opening of a new Bandag Training Center on its Akron campus. Representing a $3 million investment, the new centre will educate teammates of commercial tyre dealers and fleets about the performance, sustainability and financial benefits of retreaded tyres. The facility aims to host hundreds of industry professionals each year, providing seminars and tailored classes of all sizes.
Driving Mobility Forward Through Education and Collaboration
“Bandag retreads have been a staple solution in the commercial tyre industry for more than half a century,” said Brian Douglas, Vice President, Retread North America. “With the addition of this second training center, Bridgestone aims to strengthen its support for dealers and fleets, matching the value they get from retreads on the road.”
The new Bandag Training Center is located in the company’s tyre test lab, next to the Bridgestone Americas Advanced Tire Production Center (ATPC) and occupies nearly 15,000 square feet. The centre features a complete retread facility, which includes production-scale manufacturing equipment and stations for each of the ten retreading steps, along with a classroom and the Bandag history walk. The new Akron facility is the second designated Bandag Training Center in the Bridgestone network, joining the established Bandag Learning Center in Muscatine, Iowa.
Customers, including fleets and dealers, highly value Bandag’s retread training. The dual locations strengthen Bridgestone’s ability to meet growing demand by expanding access to training and technical resources. Both facilities will serve as cornerstone assets for teammates and customers, advancing education, innovation and industry expertise across the tyre retreading segment. When the Akron centre isn’t hosting classes, Bridgestone plans to use it as an additional site for tire-retreading innovations. With support from teams in Muscatine, Akron and Nashville, the company will test new products and introduce new manufacturing equipment and processes to further advance the segment.
Since 1957, Bandag has been a leading provider of tire-retreading solutions, advancing sustainable mobility practices. The company currently operates three pre-cured tread rubber manufacturing facilities, a retread equipment manufacturing facility and a mould manufacturing plant in the United States to support all of North America. Over its 65-year history, Bandag has diverted more than 300 million tyres from landfills by extending their service lives through retreading.
