TIA’s latest twist – the first Tire Industry Honors program – proved to be a well-placed bet as a full house honored six new hall of fame inductees, the new TIA president and industry award winners.

Developed as a replacement for the Breakfast With the President program, the Tire Industry Honors event was well received by both the audience and the participants.

Master of Ceremonies Mike Berra Jr., TIA vice president, kicked the event off, handing the reins over to incoming president Wayne Croswell who presented the six latest inductees into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.

Added to the Hall of Fame were:

• John Kelsey, owner and president of Kelsey Tire Inc., based in Camdenton, Mo. The first to license Goodyear brand classic tires, Kelsey built an industry-leading, world-wide business 39 years ago.

• John Collins, current owner of American Crane Inc., Garner, Iowa, who is credited with developing key tire service tools and equipment still used in the OTR industry.

• Charles Seiberling, co-founder of both the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in 1898, and of the Seiberling Rubber Co. in 1922.

• Harvey Firestone Jr., son of the founder of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. who served as president, CEO and chairman for more than 20 years.

• Tom Pumpelly, founder of independent dealer and franchisor NTW Inc., now part of TBC Corp.’s NTB unit.

• Robert Ewing, founder of independent dealer Tire America, now part of TBC Corp.’s NTB unit.

Next up were individual industry honors. Tire Review magazine presented the winner of its annual Top Shop Award, Enger Tire & Auto, with 20 retail locations across northeast Ohio. Top Shop finalists Curry’s Automotive, based in Sterling, Va.; Griffin Brothers Tires, Wheels, and Auto Repair, headquartered in Cornelius, N.C.; and Jack Williams Tire Co., based in Moosic, Pa., were also recognized.

Tire Business magazine presented its annual Tire Dealer Humanitarian Award to Scott Beasley of Duncan Tire Co. in Dublin, Ga.

As it has for decades, Modern Tire Dealer honored the outgoing TIA president – in this case Dan Beach – with a portrait.

Wrapping up the event, new TIA president Wayne Croswell returned to give a brief outline of his goals for the coming year and to talk about the current state of the industry and the association.

Despite all of the problems faced by tire dealers and the association, Croswell implored everyone to, “keep moving forward and focus on the opportunities in front of us all.” Croswell said that TIA was hit hard by the recession, forcing the association to make “painful budget cuts,” but that the efforts of past president Beach and the board of directors kept TIA on firm footing, and that its finances and future are on solid ground.

Even in a down economy, Croswell noted, TIA was able to add more than 600 new members, add an all-new OTR tire service training program, and a number of new member benefits.

For his year as president, Croswell said he plans to place special emphasis on enhancing and expanding TIA’s training efforts and member benefits, increase funding for TIA’s TirePAC lobbying efforts, tackle green initiatives for dealers, and expand TIA’s social media efforts.