In a letter to the industry, TRIB managing director David Stevens offered a summing of his first year at the helm of the association, looking back at the changes and accomplishments made under his direction. 
Under the title “A Look Back At My First Year at TRIB,” Stevens said, “It’s been a rewarding 12 months since starting as TRIB’s new managing director and I’ve met some amazing folks and learned so much from our members and friends of our industry. As I get ready to head to Las Vegas for SEMA and the Global Tire Expo, I thought we should look back at some of the things we’ve done for our members, the industry and the public to help promote the economic and environmental benefits of tire retreading and repair.”
Calling it a “decent start,” Stevens listed a number of accomplishments, including moving TRIB’s headquarters from California to the Washington, D.C., area “closer to member activities, locations, and other industry associations;” “transitioned to new financial management program and brought all financial and corporate filings up to date;” and “revised bylaws developed and approved by membership.”
Additionally, Stevens said, he redesigned and relaunched TRIB’s website. “The website is a constant source of new member enquiries/sign-ups, potential customers looking for retreaders and suppliers, and a source of information for fleets, the public, and media outlets around the world,” he wrote. In addition, he created a TRIB YouTube channel and added video sections to the TRIB website; revised “Industry Recommended Practices for Tire Retreading & Tire Repairing” and sold it through TRIB’s new online store;” launched a new e-mail and Casing/Supplier Memo program; and redesigned and relaunched TRIB’s “Voice of Retreading” newsletter.
Finally, on the social media front, Stevens launched Facebook and Twitter accounts for TRIB, and he represented the association at a number of industry events and conferences.
“I think the list is a decent start, but I have bigger ambitions for TRIB and several ideas for 2012 that I’ll be discussing with the board of directors at our meeting next week. I’ll provide an update for everyone after that meeting, but as always, if there are things you want to see from TRIB in 2012, give me a call or drop me a line,” he concluded.
