TRAC honors Canadian tire industry leaders

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Four veterans in the Canadian tire industry — Don Blythe, Don Campbell, Jim Henderson, and Glenn Maidment — were honored recently as industry leaders by the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC).

The four Industry Leadership Award winners were among several people and businesses recognized for their dedication and commitment to excellence in the tire and rubber industry during TRAC's annual general meeting, held June 14 in Mississauga.

The inaugural leadership awards recognize leadership in four areas: Leader of the Year; Lifetime Achievement; Sustainability; and Young Leader.

The Young Leader award recognizes young leaders who demonstrate industry leadership in management, innovation, technology and/or sustainability within their organization or community

Carol Hochu, President and CEO of TRAC, said the group received several nominations of highly qualified individuals and businesses for the awards, and because of that, chose to recognize four individuals.

Here's a look at the winners:

Don Blythe, OK Tire / Western Canada Tire Dealers (awarded posthumously)

Blythe served more than 60 years in the industry, beginning his career with Goodyear in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1957. He joined OK Tire in 1972 and was instrumental in forming an OK Tire Franchised Dealer Committee to explore the possibility of the Canadian dealers group purchasing OK Tire Stores Canada Ltd. from Ashland Oil (Kentucky).

A 100% OK franchised dealer-owned marketing group, OK Tire Stores Inc., was formed in 1973. He was named president of OK Tire in 1983.

Blythe was elected in 1982 to the board of the Western Canada Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association (today WCTD). After retiring from OK Tire in 2003, he became executive director for WCTD, a post he held until 2009. He helped to establish the Tire Stewardship BC (TSBC) and several end-of-life tire programs in Canada and remained at the helm of TSBC until he died in 2018.

Blythe is a member of the Western Canada Tire Dealers Hall of Fame (2008) and Tire Industry Association (TIA) Hall of Fame (2010)

Don Campbell, Industry Canada / Tire and Rubber Association of Canada

According to TRAC, the Canadian tire industry owes Campbell a debt of gratitude for his vision and dedication to the industry under Industry Canada and as past president of TRAC (1997–2001).

Within the framework of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations in 1980s, Campbell championed development of a duty- remission program that allowed rubber companies to claim return of duties in return for new investment in Canada.

This duty remission accrued approximately $250 million, and the industry invested close to a $1 billion in new tire plants and equipment in Canada. Thanks to these efforts, globally active tire manufacturers Bridgestone Corp., Goodyear and Michelin Group operate world-class facilities in Canada that are fully integrated into their manufacturing operations worldwide. Today's tire manufacturing landscape in Canada would not be as robust or healthy had it not been for his work.

Jim Henderson, Goodyear Canada Inc.

Henderson began his 56-year career in the industry with Michelin plants in England and Ireland. He moved to Goodyear Canada Inc. in Toronto in 1972, where he remained until his retirement earlier this year.

Henderson is known for his insights and building relationships, communication channels and bridges between the industry and government, ensuring stakeholders work toward the best for the industry.

Glenn Maidment, TRAC

Maidment's career spanned 51 years, including 30 years with TRAC (formerly Rubber Association of Canada) — nearly 20 as the group's president.

Under his guidance, the industry and governments developed sustainable and self-sufficient non-profit enterprises that meet their financial and recycling obligations.

TRAC said he was instrumental in the development and implementation of tire stewardship regulations and establishment of stewardship organizations responsible for tire recycling in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.

Emmie Leung, founder, CEO of Emterra Group

In her 45-year career, Leung has led Emterra from a one-woman start-up to one of the largest integrated resource management companies. She is credited for developing Emterra's expansion into several divisions.

Leung created Emterra Tire Recycling (ETR) in 2005 and contributed to tires' circular economy as a supplier of crumb rubber in Canada.

Leung created a formal diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and program with emphasis on female and diverse community empowerment in the workplace. She also created a Community Care program to improve the environmental health and well-being of the communities Emterra services.

Kal Tire

Kal Tire was recognized for its responsibility to customers and the environment. From team practices to process operations, Kal Tire is committed to reducing waste, conserving energy and developing solutions to help the environment, TRAC said.

One Canada's largest retreaders of truck tires, Kal has developed practices in raw material reclamation and recovery and lifecycle analysis, such as using the reclaimed material in OTR rubber compounds when retreading, creating their own internal circularity.

Last year, Kal Tire opened a thermal conversion recycling facility for mining tires in northern Chile, where the tire is returned to its original components of carbon black, steel, and oil, with the released syngas used to power the process. Kal Tire also recently launched its Maple Program, which uses a proprietary carbon calculator to provide mining customers with third-party verified data on how much CO2 and oil is saved when they retread tires vs buying new.

Maureen Kline, Pirelli Tire North America

Kline, vice president, public affairs and sustainability (North America) of Pirelli, has led the Sustainability Task Force of the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, as well as participating in the Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee of the Detroit-based Automotive Industry Action Group, the Standards Advisory Group of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB-Value Reporting Foundation) and the Sustainability Working Group of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association in the U.S.

Kline is a co-chair of the Social Impact Committee of the Public Affairs Council in Washington. She also is an adjunct instructor with Clarkson University, teaching enterprise sustainability in the master of science in engineering management (MSEM) program.

Tyromer Inc.

Tyromer's tire-to-tire vision aims to elevate sustainability by devulcanizing rubber from end-of-life tires. Tyromer's energy-efficient, non-chemical rubber devulcanization technology can return about 20% of recycled tire material back into new tires and much higher percentages in general in rubber products through its Tire Derived Polymer (TDP) product, TRAC said.

Tyromer operates three TDP production facilities in Canada and the Netherlands. The company provides solutions to manufacturers' sustainability goals regarding raw materials, supply chain, producer responsibility, circular economy, and CO2 emissions' reduction.

Charley Kriksic, Consumers Tire

Kriksic, director of sales and marketing with Consumers Tire — a three-outlet retail business in Whitby, Ontario — was elected president of the Ontario Tire Dealers Association (OTDA) in 2021, where he oversees the association's activities and encourages growth and prosperity for the sector.

He is also director and executive vice-president of the Tire Dealers Association of Canada (TDAC).

Mark Lin, Maxxis Canada

As OE account manager at Maxxis Canada, Lin creates strategies to improve partnerships, business processes, products, and marketing activities, TRAC said. He has become a champion of sustainability and environmental stewardship at Maxxis, from tire production to distribution, promoting workplace well-being at Maxxis Canada and in other international regions.

James O'Reilly, Trail Tire Group

O'Reilly, vice president of Trail Tire Group, is a second-generation tire business professional who now oversees the distribution arm (Trail Tire Supply) as well as the Associate Store Program (Trail Tire Auto Centers) at Trail Tire Group. Both divisions launched in 2019.

He also oversees the firm's e-commerce division under Trail Tire.