James Crouch is a self-proclaimed farm boy. Agriculture is his passion, and he always knew he wanted to do something related to that industry.
A friend shared a job selling ag tires that led him to his first gig in the tire industry at Michelin North America nearly seven years ago. Today, he works as marketing specialist for Alliance Tire Americas.
“The thing I like the most is that the tire is the only thing between the operator, the farmer, and the ground,” he shares. “Any tire is built and designed to make sure that machine works as good as it’s going to run. It’s just fun to see that. There are so many different evolutions and applications and farming practices that influence tires. We have to have the correct tires to carry the correct loads to minimize compaction to make sure the farmer is happy with what they bought.”
In his job, Crouch flies to the places most people fly over.
As marketing specialist for Alliance Tire Americas, Crouch is in charge of managing product lines, launching products and establishing pricing. In order to do this, he spends 75% of his time out in the field visiting with farmers.
Additionally, Crouch works with Alliance’s international teams to keep them up to date on the North American market and provides training for new hires on the agriculture and tire industry.
“The guy that hired me at Michelin shared the only way to be good in the agriculture tire industry is to have a passion for agriculture,” he says. “I try to focus on that. If I’m ever training someone to be an ag tire salesman or tire salesman, I try to instill a sense of pride and passion in what we do – not just for the tire but the industry in general.”
