TIA names 2016 Hall of Famers

BOWIE, Md. (Aug. 12, 2016) — The Tire Industry Association (TIA) has elected four distinguished industry alumni for its 2016 Hall of Fame —Dan Brown, Richard “Dick” Gust, Fredrick Kovac and Charles “Husky” Sherkin — who will be inducted at the Tire Industry Honors Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas Oct. 31.

The event, sponsored by Michelin North America Inc., is planned for 6-8 p.m. at the Tropicana in Las Vegas and is open to all. Complimentary tickets may be reserved online.

Here's a look at the slate of 2016 inductees:

Mr. Brown recently retired from his position as executive vice president of American Tire Distributors Holdings Inc. (ATD) and president of the company's Tire Pros dealer marketing group, after 41 years with ATD. Throughout his career with ATD, Mr. Brown held a number of managerial and key leadership roles, guiding the company as it grew from a small, regional supplier, to having one of the largest independent wholesale distribution footprints in the U.S., according to TIA.

“His dedication to and passion for the independent tire dealer is unsurpassed and was a driving force behind the unique Tire Pros business partnership that brings independent tire dealers together under a shared retail brand and marketing message,” a TIA news release read.

Mr. Brown started his career with J.F. Heafner Tire Co. in 1975. There he worked his way up from route salesman through various marketing roles and, in 1990, took over as director of marketing and sales. He also played significant roles in helping Heafner through several acquisitions.

In 1997, Mr. Brown assumed the role of ATD's senior vice president of sales and marketing and remained in that position until 2001. He was named president of Tire Pros in December 2010, the Tire Pros network of retail locations has more than tripled to over 725.

Mr. Gust, a 40-year veteran of the tire and rubber industry, holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He began his career as a tire design engineer for Uniroyal, where he eventually would hold managerial positions, TIA said, before joining Sears, Roebuck & Co. as a product manager.

Following his time with Sears, Mr. Gust was named president of Lakin Environmental Industries, where he oversaw retreading, remanufacturing and scrap tire processing and introduced bead-to-bead retreading to the U.S. market for the company.

Upon Liberty Tire Recycling L.L.C.'s acquisition of Lakin in 2008, Mr. Gust was named president of national account sales and director of government affairs where he has had industry-wide impact, TIA said.

Recognized as an authority on scrap tire environmental issues, Mr. Gust is frequently called upon by state regulators to assist in drafting rules and regulations for managing the flow of scrap tires. He also has worked with companies to develop tire-derived fuel (TDF) and the use of tire-derived rubber as mulch and equestrian material.

TIA said he has “devoted considerable time pursuing solutions to the nation's scrap tire problem. When scrap tire piles became an environmental concern, he expanded scrap tire collections and began serving the collection and recycling needs of major accounts in all 50 states.”

Mr. Kovac, the late vice president of Goodyear, began his career with the tire maker in 1956 and is recognized for the company's contribution to a number of tire successes including the bias-belted tire construction process and an all-season tire.

Under his guidance, according to TIA, engineers at Goodyear worked to develop the concept of twin tires to improve hydroplaning resistance, but the concept was never commercialized. Instead, Mr. Kovac wondered if the developed hydroplaning attributes could be combined in one tire, and his innovations resulted in Goodyear's Aquatred.

In 1978, Mr. Kovac transformed an old Akron tire plant into Goodyear's Technical Center, which continues to operate today as one of Goodyear's key global innovation centers.

A graduate of the University of Akron, Mr. Kovac held 13 patents dealing primarily with fabric reinforcement of tires.

“During his 39-year career, he made numerous, significant advances in technology and financial contributions to Goodyear while leading the industry in new directions that continue to benefit it to this day,” TIA said.

Mr. Kovac served with Goodyear until his death in 1996.

Mr. Sherkin's career in the tire industry began when he was just 15 years old, working for his brother's tire company United Tire.

As the business grew, Mr. Sherkin became a part owner, helping to guide it into a new frontier as the northern Ontario mining industry began its boom. According to TIA, Mr. Sherkin recognized the need for improved mining tires, so he invented and developed underground mining and forestry tires. In the 1950s, United Tire's retreading plant in Toronto was Canada's largest retreader of OTR tires.

United became the exclusive Canadian distributor for Bridgestone Corp. in 1958 and remained the tire maker's only Canadian distributor for 13 years.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Sherkin created private brand OTR production with BF Goodrich, MDG and General Tire, a pioneering effort in its time, according to TIA.

In 1972, he established an independently owned Canadian tire manufacturing plant that became one of the first Chinese-Canadian joint ventures in 1985 when the factory migrated operations to China.

In 1995, United Tire merged its OTR business with Denman Tire Corp. and Mr. Sherkin stayed on to help guide efforts until his retirement in 2000.

He was inducted into the Ontario Tire Dealers Association Hall of Fame in 2010 — one year before his death in 2011.

“(Mr.) Sherkin was truly one of the pioneers in the tire business, not only in Canada but globally,” TIA stated. “He was tremendously creative and entrepreneurial in building United Tire from a small used tire trader in Toronto in 1944 to a well-respected global player in OTR tires at the time of his retirement.”