
	Bridgestone Americas&rsquo; corporate family (BSA) traces its roots to the establishment of The Firestone Tire &amp; Rubber Company in August 1900. It was then that 31-year-old Harvey S. Firestone (1868-1938) started tire production with 12 employees in Akron, Ohio.

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	On the other side of the globe in 1931, Shojiro Ishibashi (1885-1976) created Bridgestone Tire Company Ltd. (later renamed Bridgestone Corporation). He fashioned the company name by reversing the English translation of his own: &ldquo;Ishibashi,&rdquo; which literally means &ldquo;stone bridge&rdquo; in Japanese.

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	Bridgestone Corporation purchased Firestone in 1988 for $2.6 billion, transforming the companies&rsquo; combined operations into the world&rsquo;s largest tire and rubber company. The operations in the Americas were renamed Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (BFS) and became the largest subsidiary of Bridgestone. As part of its integration with Bridgestone&rsquo;s existing U.S. operations, Bridgestone/Firestone moved its headquarters from Akron to Nashville in 1992.

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	In an effort to enhance its core business units and to address its customers&rsquo; needs and wants, the company today does business in the Americas under a holding company structure in which Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM) owns several operating units and subsidiaries, which includes building and industrial products, natural rubber, and industrial fibers and textiles businesses, as well as the tire businesses.

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	Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC is part of a larger business unit also known as Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO). Reporting into this business unit are the company&rsquo;s Latin American tire operations, the U.S. and Canadian consumer tire businesses and the U.S. and Canadian commercial tire businesses. These businesses include tire manufacturing and wholesale and original equipment sales operations across a broad line of products, including consumer, commercial truck and bus, agricultural, and off road tires. Product development and research related to these businesses are also conducted by BATO. BATO sells tires for passenger, light truck, truck, bus, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and kart applications through a variety of different outlets, including independent dealers, discount retailers, warehouse clubs and stores owned by Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC (BSRO). In addition, through &nbsp;Bridgestone Commercial Solutions, retreading customers have access to industry-leading research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales expertise, providing them with a total tire solution.
