TIA ANNOUNCES 2007 TIRE INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
AND FRIEND OF THE INDUSTRY AWARD
Bowie, MD – (August 28, 2007) The Tire Industry Association (TIA) today announced the recipients of the 2007 Tire Industry Hall of Fame: Norman Affleck, retired President and CEO, Big O Tires; and Craig Anderson, retired President and CEO, Hercules Tire & Rubber Company. Six additional inductees from four companies were selected for the “Historical Contributors” category that was created in 2005. This category recognizes those individuals who have been out of the industry for at least 20 years or more. These individuals may be retired, deceased, or may have begun their careers in the tire industry and moved on to a different industry.
The six individuals chosen for induction as “Historical Contributors” are: Ira J. Cooper, formed The Cooper Corporation later to be known as Cooper Tire and Rubber Company; Robert Eisentrout, “father of American performance tires” and former President of BF Goodrich Tire Group; Otto and Willy Gruber, founders of Otto Gruber & Company known today as Rema Tip Top; and Rudy Holman and Neil McIntyre, developers of the Orbitread extruder.
TIA’s 2007 Friend of the Industry Award recipient is Saul Ludwig, Managing Director, Key Banc Capital Markets, Inc. This award recognizes well-known individuals who are allies and proven supporters of the tire industry. These individuals are not part of the tire industry, but have affected it positively in some manner. Mr. Ludwig has been a strong supporter of the tire industry for nearly 40 years as a tire analyst and is considered the industry’s “expert” on financial trends.
Norman Affleck was a founding dealer member of Big O Tires, Inc. and was the first president of the company, a position that he held for 25 years. Under his management, he recruited many dealers, helped Big O Tires become a leader in retreading, developed a unique warranty, and instituted the private brand concept. Because dealers wanted their stores to stand out from the competition and give consumers a concrete reason to shop at Big O Tires, Mr. Affleck provided the leadership that enabled the company to introduce the first Big O Tires brand in 1974. That breakthrough presented Big O Tires with the key it needed to invite and secure customers and began a new era in the company’s history. Affleck’s vision for the future, and his implementation of Big O’s exclusive products and programs, were vital to the growth and success of the company.
In 1976 Craig Anderson joined Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. as Vice President of Marketing. He became the company’s Chief Operations Officer at Hercules’ corporate offices in Findlay, Ohio, in 1981 where he spent the remainder of his career.
Under Craig’s leadership, Hercules began sourcing tires from Asia in 1979, launched the company’s TDW distribution program in 1987, and acquired Cedco Engineering in Springfield, Missouri in 1988 to make Hercules a full-line supplier to the retreading industry with equipment and rubber. The company continued to grow over the years including the addition of a state-of-the-art training facility, the acquisition of a retread plant from Mohawk Rubber in 1995 and the Electra Group of Canada in 1998 now known as Hercules Tire Company of Canada, Inc. and Hercules Tire International. With Anderson’s direction, sales grew from $56 million in 1976 to $380 million in 2005, employees increased from 80 to 334, and locations grew from 1 to 12 before his retirement in 2005.
The Hall of Fame Inductions will take place on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nevada prior to the opening of TIA’s Performance Tires & Wheels/SEMA Show. The presentation will be held during TIA’s Breakfast with the President, scheduled from 6:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in the Palace I Ballroom at Caesars Palace. 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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