SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. — It was a Hall of Fame gathering of some of the industry greats.
The ninth annual California Tire Dealers Association (CTDA)/1-800EveryRim New Year Luncheon, held Jan. 20, featured a variety of industry stalwarts, both past and present.
Among the CTDA Hall of Fame inductees were former directors of the CTDA-North and the CTDA-South. The associations combined to become the CTDA in 2010.
This year's inductees who were honored include:
- The late Eddie Cohn was a CTDA-S director and had previously operated Cohn Tire Sales in Los Angeles;
- Jay Goldberg, a CTDA board member since the 1960s, who operated Anderson Tire, Semperit Pacific and later became a principal at Globe Tire. Goldberg also was involved with the National Tire Dealers and Retreaders Association (NTDRA);
- The late Tom Hanlon, a past CTDA-N president, who ran Hanlon's Tire Service in San Bruno, Calif.;
- The late Ed King, who helped to establish CTDA-N's insurance services. He was a past executive director of CTDA and prior to that was a CTDA-N board member; and
- Don Zavattero, former secretary, treasurer and board member of the CTDA-N and CTDA, and the founder of Tech Supply in Hayward, Calif.
"I know or had known each of the inductees for quite a long time, and with Jay and Eddie, they were mentors to me," said luncheon host and CTDA President Billy Eordekian of 1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels.
CTDA Executive Director Marc Connerly and CTDA board member Chris Barry of the Independent Tire Dealer Group (ITDG) served as the luncheons emcees.
The speakers included:
- Retired Tire Industry Association (TIA) CEO Roy Littlefield, now a part time lobbyist for the association. Littlefield reviewed legislative issues, including the recently-passed infrastructure bill and funding;
- Current TIA President Mason Hess, of Purcell Tire. Hess stressed the impact of the labor shortage and discussed TIA's role in employee training and the importance of manager engagement with new hires; and
- SEMA Wheel & Tire Council (WTC) committee member and former SEMA board member Steve Swanson of The Carlstar Group. Swanson discussed the benefits of WTC membership.
1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels hosted the luncheon, while Federated Insurance was the annual CTDA Diamond Sponsor.
Gold Sponsors were Yokohama Tire, Advance Auto Parts, Turbo Wholesale Tire, Snap Finance, Optimize Social Media and Mighty Auto Parts. Silver Sponsors were Myers Tire Supply, Penn Tires and Tire's Warehouse.
