Michelin is expanding its Earthmover tire facility in Lexington. The area outlined in yellow will contain new curing presses for the company's large mining tires.

   One of the latest foreign- owned firms to expand is SKF, a Sweden- based supplier of products in the rolling bearings and seals business. The company is locating its Specialty Bearings manufacturing operations of its MRC Bearings division in North Charleston, creating 100 jobs with a $12.5 million investment. The facility is located next to the SKF Aero Bearing Service Center in North Charleston's Pepperdam Industrial Park. The new facility will house the precision ball bearing manufacturing operations the company is moving from its plant in Jamestown, N.Y. The division manufactures ball and roller bearings for aerospace and specialty markets.
   "We found a synergy between the existing overhaul and repair business and the specialty business that made sense to expand in North Charleston," said Kaj Thoren, president of SKF's Aero & Steel Division.
   Thoren said the Charleston region's burgeoning aerospace cluster is a plus as it will attract and provide a supply chain network to support aerospace businesses.
   Another investment from a Scandinavian company involves Finland-based Metso Minerals, a global processor of rocks and minerals. The company is reopening and expanding its dormant manufacturing facility in Columbia. Metso promises to create 170 jobs at the plant that was built in 1969. The project involves consolidation of the company's warehouses in Milwaukee, Wis.; Boonville, N.C.; and Carlisle, Pa., into the Columbia facility. Metso will also be moving its screen and vibrating equipment manufacturing operation from Gastonia, N.C., as it establishes a heavy equipment assembly operation for North America.
   Tech-Wood, a Dutch manufacturer of wood composite materials, is investing $150 million to create 200 to 250 jobs in Greenwood County. Tech-Wood products use 70 percent pine wood fibers and 30 percent polypropylene to make durable building panels.
   Another foreign-owned firm is set to expand in South Carolina in 2006: Faurecia North America will enlarge its Fountain Inn plant to produce automobile seats on a just-in-time basis. The project is part of a major company expansion that will see the French multinational create 2,000 jobs at several sites in the U.S.