TRIB sacks Brodsky, names Bozarth as interim head

ERJ staff report (TB)

Akron, Ohio -- In the wake of the Oct. 5 announcement that Harvey Brodsky had been let go by the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB), the organisation's board has hired Marvin Bozarth, a longtime retreading industry expert, as interim managing director until a replacement is hired.

TRIB President Mike Berra Jr. told ERJ's sister paper, 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.

Berra declined to discuss the circumstances surrounding Brodsky's departure from TRIB. Late on Tuesday, Brodsky sent out a press release saying he was “fired” at the end of the business day Oct. 5.

“Harvey provided long service to the association, certainly his work is recognised around the world,” Berra said. “We would like to try to focus on the future as opposed to what happened in the past couple days.”

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.

“I was not very pleased at all,” Brodsky said of the decision. He said he's already received a few job offers that he is considering.

“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.”

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 has already received a few resumes from potential candidates. He said 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.

Berra, who will become president of TIA during the upcoming SEMA Show in Las Vegas, said he had planned on stepping down from his TRIB post at that time, but will postpone doing so in light of the vacancy of the managing director position. He said TRIB has not yet scheduled an election for his successor.

In his statement announcing his firing, Brodsky said that “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.

“I hope to see many of them again as time goes by.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)