The day before the race starts and the SEMA Show/Global Tire Expo goes live is always a hectic one for TIA officials and board members. From breakfast to the cocktail party kicking off Industry Honors, a number of important meetings are held.

The TIA Board of Directors held a four-hour session at The Cosmopolitan hotel to start the day, followed by the Tread Rubber Manufacturers Group meeting, the State Association Executive Meeting, and the TRIB annual meeting as well as TIA’s own Annual Membership Meeting.

Cracking in at 30 minutes, the Annual Membership Meeting saw the approval of the minutes from last year’s member meeting, approval of treasurer Tom Formanek’s financial report, and passage of two resolutions. The first shows TIA’s support of HR1406 that amends the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the second supports fair application of sales taxes for online purchases.

Most importantly, the transfer of the president’s gavel marked the end of Randy Groh’s term as TIA president and the start of Ken Brown’s year at the helm.

Five individuals left the board, their terms having expired, and they were recognized: Larry Brandt, Paul Dvorak, Reece Hester, Dan Rose and Stu Zurcher.

Joining the TIA board were new members Anthony Blackman, Joseph Henmueller, and Brian Rigney; and returning members Ernie Caramanico, Lyssa Da Costa, and Tom Wright. Jon Schadl came on the board to replace Glen Nicholson, who was elected secretary. Bob Bignell, executive director of the Ontario Tire Dealers Association, will be the new State/Provincial representative on the board.

During the Tire Retreading & Repair Information Bureau annual membership meeting, TRIB updated its members on the group’s 2013 activities and future goals.

TRIB’s mission to promote and defend the retread and repair industries worldwide, plays a major role in what the bureau does on a daily basis, according to David Stevens, managing director. TRIB continues to invest in its online presence, attend trade shows, educate the public about retreading myths and respond to any negative comments in the press, he said.

In 2013, the group has had booths at several trade shows and Stevens spoke at several conferences and shows, as well.

“We feel it’s an important place for us to be,” Stevens said. “To speak to these attendees, it’s something that we will continue to invest in.”

Additionally, the board outlined four areas it wanted to work on in 2013 – its newsletter, website, growing membership and videos.

Stevens reported that TRIB met its membership goal for 2013 despite challenges in association membership across all industries.

TRIB has also put a heavy focus on its website this year. The group hopes to re-launch a new website, including a mobile version, by the end of November. The new site should provide easier navigation for members as well as clear message for the public that has visited the site to learn more about retreading. Additionally the TRIB store on the site has been redesigned.

TRIB currently has three videos on the site for the public’s viewing and plans to re-shoot one and add another. TRIB will soon offer a video about the environmental value of retreading and will redo its “Rubber on the Road” video to be more current. Moving forward, the organization also hopes to shorten these videos to provide clips to news stations for use, Stevens said.

Developing its newsletters, TRIB was focused more on quality over content. The newsletter provides lots of imagery and content for members, Stevens said. Additionally, TRIB added a Tech Tuesday newsletter focusing on technical facts and information.