A letter from Tom Formanek, TIA’s incoming president:
This November, I will begin my one-year term as president of the Tire Industry Association (TIA). I am truly honored to serve this fine industry and continue the great and important work of this association. I want to begin by thanking Glen Nicholson and all the other past presidents, as well as current and past board members, for setting this association on a positive path. During my time on TIA’s board, I have seen how hard they worked to better the industry and I’m excited to serve in this new capacity.
Earlier this year, the TIA Board of Directors adopted a new mission statement for the association. It reads:
“The mission of TIA is to promote tire safety through training and education, to act as the principal advocate in government affairs, and to enhance the image and professionalism of the industry so that our member businesses may be more successful.”
During my time as president, I’ll be working hard to make sure that TIA fulfills its mission.
The first component of TIA’s mission is to promote tire safety. TIA is doing that each and every day through its award-winning tire technician training programs. TIA has now trained and/or certified more than 110,000 tire technicians in automotive, commercial, farm, earthmover and industrial tire service. This year, TIA updated is Commercial Tire Service (CTS) program and is currently working on updating the Automotive Tire Service (ATS) program. TIA will also be launching a Certified Earthmover Tire Service (ETS) program this year.
I was proud that my employer, Stellar Industries, hosted three sold-out Farm Tire Service (FTS) classes this past summer right in my hometown of Garner, Iowa.
If you or your company has not yet participated in any TIA training, I highly encourage you to do so. Safety is a top priority for TIA and it will continue to be during my term as president.
The second component of TIA’s mission talks about our commitment to advocacy on behalf of our members. TIA’s government affairs team, led by Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield, works to represent the best interests of our members on legislative issues such as tire registration, the estate tax, LIFO, tire aging and other issues that could negatively impact our industry. TIA ensures that your voice is heard.
The final component of TIA’s mission is to enhance the image and professionalism of the industry so that our member businesses can be more successful. TIA does that in so many ways. By providing our members with resources they need to lower expenses and become more profitable, we help our members succeed each and every day.
I also look for TIA to continue its annual meeting with the tire manufacturers to keep the lines of communication open between TIA, the tire manufacturers and the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA).
TIA has a talented staff and board members, and together we want to continue to help our membership in any way that we can – not only in continuing the excellent programs that we already have in place, but with new and innovative approaches.
The coming year will be filled with highs and lows in the industry and I am confident that we are going into it as strong as ever. I encourage each and every one of you to get more involved in TIA in the upcoming year. Together we can do great things and keep the industry moving forward.
