Wes Hickman (202 224-5972) and Kevin Bishop (864 250-1417)

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) extends his congratulations to the employees of Bridgestone/Firestone’s Aiken County Plant for being selected by “Industry Week” magazine as one of the ten best manufacturing facilities in North America in its 14th annual Best Plants competition. “The employees at Bridgestone/Firestone are to be congratulated for this great honor,” said Graham. “An achievement such as this comes only when people work together as a team, constantly improving practices and making use of innovative technology. I have seen first hand the dedication and commitment to excellence the men and women have at this plant.” “South Carolina is proud to have this world class facility in our state. It is state-of-the-art, and is one of the cornerstones of the economy in the region.” The top ten plants were selected from over 240 facilities nominated between October 2002 and March 2003. Nominated plants reported practices and performance in such categories as benchmarking, community involvement, customer and supplier relations, employee relations, environmental and safety programs, inventory management, manufacturing operations and flexibility, market results, productivity, quality and use of technology. The Bridgestone/Firestone plant in Graniteville has won several other awards including: OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program "Star" Site 2002 South Carolina Governor's Quality Award 2002 Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing ####