TIA to welcome new CEO Gust, expand training in 2022

LAS VEGAS — Incoming Tire Industry Association (TIA) CEO Dick Gust said the organization will stay true to its mission in offering independent tire dealers the training they want and government representation they need.

"Moving forward, my plan is to build on a great foundation," Mr. Gust said at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nov. 3.

In 2022, TIA will welcome Mr. Gust and officially say goodbye to longtime CEO Roy Littlefield III, who is retiring. The organization has plans to release updated and new training with a wider audience reach. TIA will lobby for around 150 pieces of legislation, and the association will seek new ways to attract talent to the industry, as well as to the association.

"Small business is big to us," Mr. Gust said. "Most of our dealers are small businesses, and we need to be responsible to their interests."

TIA has evolved its training during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaning on and improving its online university.

"The pandemic didn't make tires safer — from a technician's standpoint," Kevin Rohlwing, senior vice president of training, said. "Things are changing, technology is changing, and we have to evolve our training."

One way it has evolved is the addition of closed captioning to all of its training videos. TIA said not only will closed captioning help the hearing impaired, but it also opens up another avenue for everyone to better understand the information.

Mr. Rohlwing said the association hopes to have its commercial training program available in Spanish in 2022, and ultimately plans to have all training available in Spanish in the future.

In 2022, TIA will release updates of popular programs as well as new training aimed at management.

TIA has filmed an update to the basic commercial tire service program — a 200-level course, OHSA compliance training. The update will go live in the near future, TIA said.

The association also will update its basic automotive service program.

Mr. Rohlwing said updates are also planned for TIA's certified commercial tire service program, 300-400 level, for experienced technicians, and its basic earthmover tire service program.

"It's not that they were out of date, but they needed to be updated," Mr. Rohlwing said. "Some technology has changed, some tools have changed."

TIA, he said, has built strong training programs but still seeks to offer new programs to members. The association has partnered with Glen Nicholson and Mohr Retail to offer members management training.

The aim of the programing is to train managers in conflict resolution and better understanding, and ultimately, managing employees. TIA said there was positive response when it piloted the program. In fact, commercial members who saw the program ask for it to be adapted to managers in the commercial tire industry.

Both of those programs will be a part of the 2022 slate, TIA said. The association said it is planning to develop training for area mangers overseeing several locations.

In Washington, Roy Littlefield IV, director of government affairs, said traditional lobbying has yet to return to Capitol Hill since the pandemic started. He said that has its advantages and disadvantages.

The downside — which everyone is facing — is visibility in Washington, and TIA's opportunity to lobby legislators face-to-face with TIA members.

On the positive side, Mr. Littlefield said, legislators are taking meetings online, and TIA can reach more people in a given day.

TIA is tracking about 150 bills, he said. In an effort to focus on transparency, TIA released new position papers on telematics and the right to repair, estate tax and transportation.

The association, Mr. Littlefield said, will be proactive in the next year on issues at both a state and federal level.

"I am going to make this transition as smooth as possible, because we've all been there," Mr. Gust said. "We've all worked together before; the staff is outstanding. We have people like Roy Littlefield and Kevin Rohlwing leading the two main programs that are most beneficial to our members."

Mr. Gust brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the position. He began his industry career as a tire design engineer with Uniroyal Tire Co. (now part of Michelin Group) and later became a manager in tire production, quality control, product development and product testing.

He also worked at Sears, Roebuck & Co. as a tire engineering liaison between Sears buyers and various tire suppliers before joining Lakin Environmental.

Mr. Gust has worked with the National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association, the American Retreaders Association, the Tire Association of North American (TANA) and the International Tire & Rubber Association (ITRA), TIA said, and he helped negotiate the merger between ITRA and TANA in 2002 that created TIA.

Mr. Gust was TIA president in 2005 and elected to the TIA Hall of Fame in 2016.

"He's been involved; he has a great background," Roy Littlefield III, who is retiring after 42 years with the organization, said. "He's a great friend to the industry, the (TIA) staff, and he's a friend of mine.

"I think the association is in great hands with him."

Mr. Gust said it is important for TIA to find new ways to encourage young adults to pursue careers in the tire industry.

"We think we can enter some training programs for high school kids who want to go into the trade section of that," he said. "It's really about getting out and making people aware — especially junior college and high school — and offering them some training."

At the same time, he said the association will seek to recruit new members for service on TIA boards.

"It's not that difficult to recognize talent, because it generally rises to the top, and we would encourage them to participate," he said.

"There are a lot of independent tire dealers that really are great small businesspeople that would really be able to give us some good advice."

Mr. Gust said, looking to the future, the association will continue to ask itself, "What can we do for our members?"

"(We'll) make sure they have the training necessary and government representation they really need, and we'll move on from there."