It’s the seventh year of the Nokian Tyres Scholarship, an annual educational award to two STEM students in Rhea County, home to our award-winning tire factory that sends all-season and all-weather tires to drivers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Meet Landon.
Landon is a recent high school graduate pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at Bryan College, a university down the street from our factory in Dayton, Tennessee.
Nokian Tyres believes in Landon. He’s a high-achieving graduate of the high school closest to our North American production campus, and he has a passion for how things work.
“Engineering combines creativity with problem-solving,” Landon says, “allowing me to design, analyze, and improve mechanical systems that can make a real-world impact.”
Even better: He wants to make a difference in his home community.
“I’d love to make an impact on the future of Dayton,” says Landon. “It will be great to get my degree [in my hometown], plus have my support system. My family has always supported me, and teachers and coaches pushed me hard to get me to where I am today.”
We’re providing a scholarship to help Landon pursue his dreams. It’s the seventh year of the Nokian Tyres Scholarship, an annual educational award to two STEM students in Rhea County, home to our award-winning tire factory that sends all-season and all-weather tires to drivers throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The scholarship is one of many examples of the human impact of our growth in North America.
A Growing Workforce
Landon is a great example of what attracted Nokian Tyres to Southeast Tennessee in the first place – an educated workforce driven to succeed. Today, we employ approximately 500 team members at our Dayton Factory, making us one of the biggest employers in the county.
The growing employee base helped us set a production record last year, our highest volume since opening the factory in 2019. But growth isn’t just about numbers; it’s also about making each other better.
That includes folks like Ethan Keur, who came to Nokian Tyres in 2021 as an entry-level production operator. Today, he’s a shift supervisor responsible for overseeing a wide swath of our production process.
“The leaders on my shift took notice of me and gave me coaching opportunities, and it makes me want to give back the same way it was done to me,” Ethan says. “With the factory’s growth, we’ve had more leadership positions come open…and it’s very rewarding to see that growth unfolding.”
Nokian Tyres provides work-based learning opportunities for students at community colleges and universities throughout Southeast Tennessee, as well as tuition reimbursement options for employees across North America. And we offer a mentorship program and leadership training class at our factory aimed at sharpening our team members’ skills and helping them thrive for years to come.
A Growing Volume of High-Quality Tires
Of course, a growing factory means higher production volume. Our Dayton Factory is the epicenter of our expansion in the United States and Canada. It’s our North American headquarters, and we’ve won awards and certifications for our quality and sustainability efforts and our culture there.
The end result for drivers: millions of all-season and all-weather tires that come from Tennessee, for North America.
“A lot of places say quality is number one, but in Dayton it really is,” says Ethan. “Nokian Tyres wants employees to be happy – they care about our growth and development, so you’ve got a lot of happy and driven people wanting to make good tires.”
Those tires include rugged trailblazers like the Nokian Tyres Outpost Family, four-season solutions like the Nokian Tyres Remedy WRG5, and our workhorse all-season product, the Nokian Tyres One and One HT. Every one of those products is exclusive to the North American market and tailored to the needs of drivers here.
“The Nokian Tyres One is the best package all-around between comfort, pothole protection and pricing – you can’t go wrong,” says Brandon Bass, Vice President of BSI Service Center in eastern North Carolina. “It fits all the key elements people are looking for, and it gives you great mileage. To me, it’s my favorite tire.”
“The Nokian Tyres One is the easiest mover by far,” says Jeff Deans, Vice President of St. Lucie Battery and Tire in South Florida. “I’ll put [the tire] on just about anybody’s vehicle.”
Investing in the Future
If business goes well for Nokian Tyres in North America, there’s room to expand our footprint in Dayton. In the meantime, we’re eagerly pouring ourselves into current and future employees to ensure continued growth opportunities for them and for our company.
The goal: to pave new pathways forward for our company, our workforce and our drivers.
Perhaps Ethan says it best.
“It empowers people to see that the work they’re doing makes impacts around the world.”
Please remember that it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure their tires are safe and suitable for their vehicle and to follow the vehicle’s manufacturer´s guidelines for proper use and maintenance. Consult your closest Nokian Tyres dealer or your vehicle’s manufacturer for specific advice.
