Marangoni Tread North America has begun construction of their first manufacturing U.S. plant in Madison, Tennessee. They will manufacture their RINGTREAD, which is the original, splice-less precure tire tread used in retreading commercial truck tires, company officials said. Production should begin in the 2nd quarter 2004, according to Bill Sweatman, President and CEO of Marangoni Tread North America. “We have had such tremendous success with the RINGTREAD and demand is growing rapidly. We’ve actually tripled our business in the last 2 years, so this additional capacity will be much needed as we continue to grow and expand our business,” he said. “We chose the Nashville area because of its proximity to our primary market since two-thirds of truck tire retreading is done east of the Mississippi River and Tennessee as a distribution point has many advantages for us.” Adding manufacturing in the United States and expanding the business represents an investment of $10 million. Marangoni Tread North America currently has 12 authorized RINGTREAD dealers operating in the U.S. and 2 in Canada with 2 additional U.S. dealer plants to be installed in the next 2 months.