Thursday morning, members of the ATD and Tire Pros teams crowded into a hushed conference room in Huntersville, N.C., for a surprise farewell celebration honoring outgoing ATD Senior Vice President of Sales Roland Boyette who retires after 44 years in the tire industry.
Boyette joined ATD back in 1999 as vice president of key accounts. At that time, ATD’s sales were at $900M. “Now we are $5.2 billion,” Boyette said.
In his brief remarks to those gathered, Boyette credits his success throughout his 17-years tenure at ATD to the people and support he’s received there. In his own words, he appreciates ATD for “allowing a totally unqualified person to make mistakes, and learn from them, and succeed.”
“Humble, genuine and strong” are the words that Quick Chadwick, director of marketing services, uses to describe Boyette.
Boyette has been in tire distribution for the past 44 years, starting with ITCO Tire in 1971. He has held various positions including warehouseman, delivery driver, warehouse manager, commercial center manager, distribution center manager and regional general manager over the course of his career.
In his most recent role with ATD, he was responsible for directing the sales effort with corporate accounts, the auto dealer channel and specific strategic accounts. He also provided leadership with ATD Online, the sales and customer support center and initiatives around sales process improvement, CRM and eLearning.
Robert Kirkpatrick will replace Boyette, assuming the role of senior vice president of national sales. Kirkpatrick has 35 years of industry experience – including 30 years with ATD. During that time, he has held key roles in sales and operations, including the region vice president of the Southeast and Great Lakes regions, and most recently senior vice president of the company’s East Division.
“Robert’s breadth and depth of experience will ensure a successful customer relationship transition with Roland,” said ATD. “Roland will always be a friend of the business and will continue to work with Robert through the transition. However, (Roland’s) immediate focus is going to be on traveling, spending time with his family and working on his hobbies.”
Boyette attended the University of North Carolina and served in the N.C. National Guard for 13 years, attaining the rank of Major. He is a former member of the board of directors of the N.C. Tire Dealers Association and served as president of the association in 2001-2002.
