Tire Industry Association

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	TIA Contact: Roy Littlefield
August 17, 2007	301-430-7280

Jim Ports, NHTSA Deputy Administrator,
To Speak at TIA Breakfast with the President

Bowie, MD – (August 17, 2007) The Tire Industry Association (TIA) today announced Jim Ports, Deputy Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will be a featured speaker at TIA’s Breakfast with the President, Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We are looking forward to the Deputy Administrator discussing the many NHTSA regulated issues that affect the tire industry,” commented TIA Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield. “This is a tremendous opportunity to meet one-on-one with Mr. Ports. NHTSA’s regulations have far-reaching effects on most aspects of our business. It’s also an event where you can honor and be inspired by the Tire Industry Hall of Fame inductees.

Ports became Deputy Administrator in March 2007, and prior to that served as the Deputy Secretary for Maryland’s Department of Transportation (MDOT). Ports was responsible for overseeing the 9,200-employee department which had an annual budget of $3.69 billion dollars to operate the BWI/Thurgood Marshall and Martin State Airports, Maryland’s Port of Baltimore, State Highway Administration, Motor Vehicle Administration, and the Maryland Transit Administration.

Previous to Ports’ promotion to Deputy Secretary, he was the Assistant Secretary for Administration at MDOT where he managed the offices of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Engineering & Procurement, Human Resources, Real Estate, Facilities Services, and International Affairs. Before joining MDOT he served for twelve years in the Maryland General Assembly as a member of the House of Delegates where he served on the Ways and Means Committee, the Transportation Subcommittee and as the House Minority Whip.

Ports’ presentation will take place during TIA’s Breakfast with the President on October 30, 2007, scheduled from

6:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at the Caesars Palace Hotel, Palace I ballroom, prior to the opening of the SEMA Show/TIA’s Performance Tires & Wheels. Tickets for the event are $35 and are available online at www.tireindustry.org/events.asp.

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TIA is an international association representing all segments of the tire industry, including those that manufacture, repair, recycle, sell, service or use new or retreaded tires, and also those suppliers or individuals who furnish equipment, material or services to the industry. The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has a history that spans more than 80 years and includes several name changes. Originally known as the National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association (NTDRA), the organization gave birth over the years to the American Retreaders Association (ARA) and the Tire Association of North America (TANA). ARA changed its name to the International Tire & Rubber Association (ITRA) and merged with TANA in 2002 to form the current Tire Industry Association (TIA), which now represents every interest in the tire industry.

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