Elected to the Hall of Fame were Norman Affleck, retired president and CEO of Big O Tires; and Craig Anderson, retired president and CEO of Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. In addition, six other pioneers were elected to the Hall of Fame as Histroical Contributors: Ira J. Cooper, formed the Cooper Corp., later known as Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.; Robert Eisentrout, former president of BFGoodrich Tire CO. and the acknowledged “father of American performance tires;” Otto and Willy Gruber, founders of Stahlgruber Otto Gruber GmbH, known as Rema Tip Top; and Rudy Holman and Neil McIntyre, developers of the Orbitread tread stock extruder.
In addition, industry analyst Saul Ludwig, managing director for KeyBanc Capital Markets, will receive TIA’s Friend of the Industry Award.
Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will take place during TIA’s annual Breakfast With the President event on Tuesday, Oct. 30, just before the start of the 2007 SEAM Show. The event will be held from 6:45 to 9 a.m. in the Palace I Ballroom at Caesars Palace. Tickets for the event are $35 and are available online at www.tireindustry.org/events.asp.
Affleck was a founding dealer member of Big O Tires, Inc. and was the first president of the company, a position that he held for 25 years. Under his management, he recruited many dealers, helped Big O Tires become a leader in retreading, developed a unique warranty program, and instituted the private brand concept.
Affleck also helped introduce the Big O tire brand in 1974, giving member dealers their own competitive private brand.
Anderson joined Hercules as vice president of marketing in 1976, and before his retirement in 2005, he helped lead Hercules growth from a retread stock supplier and small private brander to a full-line new tire and retreading supplier. Under his leadership, Hercules began sourcing tires from Asia in 1979, launched the company’s TDW distribution program in 1987, and acquired Cedco Engineering in 1988, allowing Hercules to become a full-line supplier to the retreading industry.
The company continued to grow over the years including the addition of a state-of-the-art training facility, the acquisition of a retread plant from Mohawk Rubber in 1995 and the Electra Group of Canada in 1998 now known as Hercules Tire Company of Canada and Hercules Tire International.
