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November 8, 2021 $99 per year, $4 per copy

TIA picks Tire Business Humanitarian of the Year

next CEO Giving back: The Katz meow

Gust will replace retiring
longtime CEO Littlefield
Tire Business

BOWIE, Md.
One longtime industry executive has
been chosen to replace another industry
veteran atop the Tire Industry Association
(TIA).
Dick Gust, president of national account
sales and director of government affairs
for Liberty Tire Recycling L.L.C. of Pitts-
burgh, has been named CEO of TIA, the
industry organiza-
tion that represents
all segments of the
national and interna-
tional tire industry.
The appointment
of the former TIA
board member culmi-

Tire Business photo by Don Detore

nates an eight-month
search to replace Roy
Littlefield III, who is Gust
retiring at year-end
after serving 18 years in the position.
TIA President Dan Nothdurft, who led
the CEO search, said Mr. Gust “brings
an extensive background to the position
including more than 25 years of volun-
teer service with TIA and other industry
organizations, in addition to a successful
private sector career. We are confident he
will continue the tremendous growth ex-
perienced by the organization during Roy
Littlefield’s tenure.”
TIA was scheduled to celebrate its
100th anniversary Nov. 1 as a prelude to
the Specialty Equipment Market Associa-
tion (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas.
Mr. Gust chairs TIA’s Environmental
Advisory Council. A longtime executive
in the scrap tire industry, Mr. Gust former-
ly was president of Lakin Environmental
Industries, overseeing operations involv-
ing tire retreading, remanufacturing, scrap
tire collections and scrap tire processing.
Mr. Gust, who was inducted into TIA’s
Hall of Fame in 2016, said he is both hum-
bled and excited to be chosen the next
CEO.
SEE GUST, PAGE 33
Ron Katz, recipient of the 2021 Tire Business Tire Dealer Humanitarian Award, owns and operates three Midas-affiliated shops in Florida.
Florida dealer Ron Katz named 2021 Tire Dealer Humanitarian
By Don Detore
ddetore@crain.com
The event was both skin-breaking and recognizes an independent tire dealer or
ground-breaking: Florida health officials retreader in North America who
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. told Mr. Katz that no other business during the past year has made
The two-week sprint that culminated in in the third most populated state significant contributions to
another successful community event had in the U.S. had hosted such an the betterment of his or
just ended. Ron Katz was exhausted, yet event. her community through
still riding a philanthropic high from his As he was packing up a charitable and/or pub-
continuing quest to make a difference in his tent, his cellphone rang. lic service work.
little slice of Florida. Mr. Katz received more Mr. Katz’s initial
Two of his three Midas-affiliated shops good news: He was the reaction: “Holy ****!”
— his flagship location in West Palm Beach 2021 recipient of the Tire The news of the
and the other in Cocoa Beach, a little more Business Tire Dealer Hu- honor sunk in over
than a rocket’s length from the Kennedy manitarian Award. the next two hours as
Space Center — had just hosted a vaccine An independent panel se- Mr. Katz drove his truck
clinic. Floridians could stop by the shop, lected Mr. Katz from an im- to his home near West
receive a COVID-19 vaccination along pressive list of more than 20 oth- Palm from the store in Cocoa
with a coupon for a free or reduced-cost oil er tire dealers as this year’s winner of Beach. It was only a few months
change. the prestigious Tire Business award, which SEE HUMANITARIAN, PAGE 14

Incoming TIA president Hess will continue digital push

By Joe Scalzo
joe.scalzo@crain.com
PHOENIX
Just before 8 a.m. on a pleasant,
mid-October day in Arizona, Mason
Hess got hit with what he calls the
“Friday Curse.”
His computer “blue-screened”
him (his words), then a “Clear-Event-
Log” message popped up.
“I’m wondering if my IT depart-
ment is just going to tell me to put it
in a box and send it back to them,”
Mr. Hess, the area manager for Pur-
cell Tire & Service Center in Phoe-
nix, said.
It was one of the bad parts of
technology.
Mr. Hess is much more interest-
ed in the good parts, something that
he’ll emphasize over the next year as
he succeeds Dan Nothdurft as pres-
ident of the Tire Industry Associa-
tion (TIA).
“I’m kind of a nerd when it comes
to that (tech) stuff,” he said, chuck-
ling. “Some people are scared of
technology and some of the older
guys in the industry would rather
change tires and run impact guns
than type on a computer, but there’s
that combination of the older gener-
ation that accepts it and excels at it.”
Ready or not, technology is ad-
vancing in every industry — and
TIA will continue to upgrade and
improve its digital footprint, Mr.
Hess said.
“We’ve learned the Zoom world
(over the past two years) and learned
how those products can add to our
tool belt,” he said. “We’re going
to work on the technology side of
things — apps, microlearning, short
videos — and I’ve been talking with
Kevin (Rohlwing, TIA senior vice
president of training) a lot about
that. We’ve got some really good
things we’re implementing for tire
techs on a more regular basis and
we’re going to continue that.”
SEE HESS, PAGE 33 Hess

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