The Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau has appointed David Stevens, 42, as its new managing director. Stevens will replace interim managing director Marvin Bozarth, who had filled the role after the TRIB board of directors dismissed long-time managing director Harvey Brodsky on Oct. 5.
Stevens’ appointment was unanimously agreed upon by the board, which had been searching for a new managing director for the last few weeks, incoming TRIB board president Bob Majewski told media during a press conference Wednesday at the Global Tire Expo/SEMA Show.
Stevens, who is new to the tire industry, was selected for his leadership skills and experience with media planning, trade show management, online marketing, partnership development, website management – and a very good understanding of new technology, Majewski said. “This will be critical as the tire and retread industry continues in its rapid evolution,” he noted.
“The board was clearly impressed by the research and in-depth analysis Stevens put together; not only did he provide us with an on-target snapshot of what TRIB is, he also had the foresight to look at a vision for the future.”
While Stevens’ experience has come from outside the tire industry, he has roughly 20 years of multi-industry experience, including public relations, marketing, sales and customer service. He has worked in the telecommunications, Internet service, credit card and financial services industries for MCI, First USA, AOL and E*Trade. Most recently, Stevens has spent the past eight years working overseas, first in Japan and then in the U.K., managing international businesses.
“In each of those industries, I came in with zero knowledge and was able to quickly get up to speed and become successful in driving revenue growth, customer growth and expanding partnerships,” Stevens said. “When I looked at TRIB, I saw a great story that has a real opportunity to be told through a much more robust and content-rich website. I laid out my vision for that to the board of directors.
“The wealth of knowledge available to me and the willingness of everyone at TRIB to jump in and help will get me up to speed very quickly. I am very confident in my abilities to take TRIB to the next phase of its growth and success,” he continued.
Stevens will be based in Washington, D.C. It has not yet been determined if TRIB’s offices will relocate to D.C.
Bozarth has agreed to stay on for an unspecified transition period. He noted that TRIB’s goals for 2011 are to complete the translation of its “Understanding Retreading” into Spanish, expand further into the transportation industry and update its website.
