TRIB lets Brodsky go -- more details

ERJ staff report (TB)

Akron. Ohio -- The Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB) dismissed longtime Managing Director Harvey Brodsky Oct. 5 and has hired Marvin Bozarth, a veteran retreading industry expert, as interim managing director until a permanent replacement is hired.

Brodsky announced he was “fired” from TRIB with an e-mailed statement that said during a conference call at 2 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Oct. 5 with TRIB President Mike Berra Jr.-and including board members Bob Majewski and Wayne Jackson-“I was informed that today would be my last day as the managing director of TRIB.

“I was not pleased with their decision but I serve at the pleasure of the board, or at least I did until a few minutes ago,” he said in the statement.

“During my nearly 30 years as the managing director of TRIB, I have made many friends in the retread and tyre repair industries and I thank them for their support during the many years we worked together,” the statement continued. “I hope to see many of them again as time goes by.”

TRIB President Mike Berra Jr. told Tire Business that “at the present time Marvin Bozarth is in the TRIB office, and he has been contracted with on an interim basis to help fill the void” left by Brodsky's exit.

Bozarth has worked as a consultant with the Tire Industry Association (TIA) and is past executive director of one of TIA's forerunner organisations, the International Tire & Rubber Association.

TRIB's direction

Berra declined to discuss with Tire Business the circumstances surrounding Brodsky's firing, other than to say his dismissal had nothing to do with his years of service nor did Brodsky inform the board he would retire soon.

“Harvey provided long service to the association, certainly his work is recognised around the world,” Berra told Tire Business. “We would like to try to focus on the future as opposed to what happened in the past couple days…. We all still like Harvey and want him to be successful in the future.”

TRIB has begun a nationwide search for a new managing director, and the association is looking for an “individual with the administrative talents and the fund raising skills necessary for the successful operation of a non-profit organisation representing tyre repair companies and retreaders in the commercial tyre industry,” Berra said in a press release.

Speaking with Tire Business, Berra said he already has received a few resumes from potential candidates, noting that the board is interested in a candidate with strong public relations/marketing skills.

“We're searching both inside and outside the industry for a qualified candidate,” he said, adding that experience in the retreading industry would be a plus but not a requirement.

TRIB's membership is strong, he said, and although fund-raising is one of the skills the board is seeking in the next managing director, the association's dues have not declined.

“We feel there is more potential for TRIB than we've seen,” Berra said. “The primary mission is core to what we see as TRIB going forward. That will not change.”

The core mission, he said, is dedication to the retread and repair industries, promoting them and “being the watchdog.”

The board likely will hire a replacement “sooner than people think. It's not going to be next week, but we were very prepared for this. This is not a shocking announcement for the board of directors,” Berra said, adding that the board has sent a letter to TRIB members explaining the situation. (See letter below.)

Berra, who is vice president of St. Louis-based Community Tire Retreading, noted that the decision to let Brodsky go was done in the best interest of TRIB members. “There has been absolutely no change in what we as a board see as the value of this association.”

When asked if there would be a membership meeting at the upcoming Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, Berra said that it wasn't clear at this point if it would occur, but the board will meet during that week. The SEMA Show runs Nov. 2-5.

TRIB's independence

During the SEMA Show, Berra will be installed as the next TIA president. He had planned to step down as TRIB president at that time, but now he said he would see the transition of TRIB's leadership through for as long as the TRIB board wants.

Berra became president of TRIB in 2005. An election for his successor has not been scheduled by the 12-member board yet, but he said there are a few candidates in consideration.

“We have become a very proactive board, and we have a great group of industry people leading this association,” he told Tire Business.

When asked if this is now an opportunity for TRIB to join TIA, Berra acknowledged that option has been discussed over the past four years, but the board believes that as long as members can fund TRIB, then an association merger shouldn't happen.

“We don't want to see (TRIB) absolved into something impossible, see it get lost or lose the control over how this association is run,” Berra said.

Asked about TRIB's relationship with TIA, Berra affirmed that TRIB is an independent organisation that receives funding from its members and various industry groups, including TIA. He said he hopes the two continue to work closely together, but “TRIB will stay on its own. I mean that in a positive way.

“We feel that our relationship with TIA needs to continue to grow, and we feel proud to be a part of that association as well.”

Brodsky's 'calling'

Contacted by Tire Business while traveling to Italy for a retreaders' meeting in Rome where he will speak, Brodsky said the TRIB board didn't tell him why he was let go but “waffled around” and merely said it was a board decision.

“There were some mistakes that I made, but everybody makes mistakes,” Brodsky said, adding that he believes the board also made a mistake in dismissing him.

Regarding the Rome meeting he's attending, Brodsky said he had to tell that organisation immediately about his exit from TRIB, but they asked him to come anyway, and his expenses will be paid by his hosts. Following the Rome meeting, he will travel to Shanghai, China, for a private industry meeting.

He said he's already received a few job offers since his announcement. But he also noted that he's had an association management company called the Harvey Brodsky Co. that he founded in 1978 with TRIB as its only client.

Now, he said he's ready to rebrand the Harvey Brodsky Co. with the motto, “The voice of retreading worldwide,” and hinted at consulting.

Brodsky acknowledged that over the years he's engaged in non-retread, non-tyre business activities, including consulting with companies involved in acquisitions. “It was never a major part of my life. >From time to time it gave me a little extra revenue.”

Regarding the TRIB board's announcement of its nationwide search for his replacement, Brodsky said he wished TRIB well because he wished the retread industry well, but he had a definite opinion.

“They're going to be hard pressed to find somebody with the passion, the knowledge, the determination and the will to work seven days a week that I have been doing for 30 years,” Brodsky added. “I take this as a personal mission. It's a calling for me.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)

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