The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has named Norman Affleck, retired president and CEO of Big O Tires Inc., and Craig Anderson, retired president and CEO of Hercules Tire & Rubber Co., to its Tire Industry Hall of Fame.
The association also has selected six individuals as historical contributors and recognized a financial analyst as TIA's 2007 Friend of the Industry recipient.
Mr. Affleck was a founding member of Big O and its first president, a position he held for 25 years. Under his management, he recruited many dealers, helped Big O become a leader in retreading, developed a unique warranty and instituted the private brand concept.
The company introduced the Big O brand in 1974, a milestone that helped it attract and secure customers, TIA said. Big O now is owned by TBC Corp.
Mr. Anderson joined Hercules in 1976 as vice president of marketing and became chief operations officer in 1981. Under his leadership, Hercules began sourcing tires from Asia in 1979, launched the Tire Dealers Warehouse distribution program in 1987 and acquired Cedco Engineering in 1988 to make Hercules a full-line supplier of equipment and rubber to the retreading industry.
The company also acquired a Mohawk Rubber tread rubber plant from Yokohama Tire Corp. in 1995 and bought Electra Group International of Canada in 1998, which was turned into Hercules Tire Co. of Canada Inc.
Hercules grew during Mr. Anderson's watch to $380 million in sales in 2005 from $56 million in 1976. He became the company's CEO in 2005 when it was acquired by private equity firm FdG Associates L.L.C. Hercules' locations numbered 12 by his retirement, which also occurred in 2005.
The assets of the Cedco and Mohawk acquisitions later were sold to Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.
TIA also selected additional inductees from four companies as ``historical contributors.'' They are individuals who have been out of the industry for at least 20 years. This year's historical inductees are:
* Ira J. Cooper, founder of Cooper Corp., now known as Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.;
* Robert Eisentrout, considered the ``father of American performance tires'' and former president of B.F. Goodrich Tire Group;
* Otto and Willy Gruber, founders of Otto Gruber & Co., known today as Rema Tip Top; and
* Rudy Holman and Neil McIntyre, developers of the Orbitread extruder.
TIA also selected Saul Ludwig, managing director of KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., for its 2007 Friend of the Industry Award. Mr. Ludwig will be recognized for his support of the tire industry for nearly 40 years as an industry analyst.
TIA will induct all of these individuals during its Breakfast with the President, 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m. Oct. 30 at the Palace I Ballroom at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The event precedes the opening of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.