Goodyear has signed a multi-year lease agreement with IRG and, as part of that agreement, will remain in its existing buildings until its new headquarters located adjacent to the company’s Akron Technical Center is completed.

"Goodyear is pleased to take this important step and to continue the considerable progress achieved to date on the headquarters development," said Laura Thompson, Goodyear’s vice president of business development. "We appreciate the efforts of the City of Akron, Summit County and the Summit County Port Authority and value their support."

"IRG is very happy to have reached this milestone with the Riverwalk project," said Stuart Lichter, president of IRG. "We are anxious to continue our efforts on finalizing the other parts of the project once funding can be arranged."

A number of long-lead projects related to the development have already begun and will be moving forward. These include associated roadway construction projects and the relocation of a major sewer line that runs through the development area. An out-of-service power plant located near Goodyear’s Technical Center is also scheduled to be removed.

Goodyear will record a non-cash, after-tax charge of between $40 million and $45 million in the second quarter of 2009 in connection with the property sales.

Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs approximately 71,000 people and manufactures its products in more than 60 facilities in 25 countries around the world. For more information about Goodyear, go to http://corporate.goodyear.com.

Certain information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control, which affect our operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause our actual results and experience to differ materially from the assumptions, expectations and objectives expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: deteriorating economic conditions or an inability to access capital markets; our ability to realize anticipated savings and operational benefits from our cost reduction initiatives or to implement successfully other strategic initiatives; actions and initiatives taken by both current and potential competitors; pension plan funding obligations; increases in the prices paid for raw materials and energy; work stoppages, financial difficulties or supply disruptions at our suppliers or customers; a labor strike, work stoppage or other similar event; our failure to comply with a material covenant in our debt obligations; the adequacy of our capital expenditures; potential adverse consequences of litigation involving the company; as well as the effects of more general factors such as changes in general market, economic or political conditions or in legislation, regulation or public policy. Additional factors are discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change.