RALEIGH, N.C. (Feb. 6, 2014) — The North Carolina Tire Dealers Association (NCTDA) will honor Ricky Benton Sr., owner and president of Black's Tire & Auto Service, and Parrish Tire Co. founder J.H. "Shorty" Parrish at the group's annual expo/trade show March 28.
The event will be held at the Marriott City Center in Raleigh.
Mr. Benton, owner and president of Black's Tire & Auto Service in Whiteville, N.C., is the group's Dealer of the Year, while Mr. Parrish, who founded Parrish Tire Co., will be inducted into the NCTDA Hall of Fame.
Black's Tire was founded in 1929 as Black's Service Station in Whiteville, N.C., by W. Crowell Black, according to the company's website. Mr. Benton purchased the business in the 1980s.
The dealership remains a family-owned and -operated tire sales and service and vehicle repair business, operating 37 locations in North and South Carolina.
Mr. Parrish founded Parrish Tire in 1946 as a single location retail and commercial tire store in Winston-Salem, N.C., according to the dealership's website. The company celebrated its 65th anniversary in 2011 and remains family-owned and -operated, with more than 300 employees at locations in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Ohio.
From Mr. Parrish's first store in downtown Winston-Salem, the dealership has grown to seven retail stores, five commercial truck tire service centers and two Bandag retread plants. Its wholesale division operates distribution centers in North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio and Georgia.
At the expo the NCTDA's foundation also will award two college scholarships to "deserving students connected to the tire industry."
More information is available on the NCTDA's website.
