When this year’s Tire Leadership 21 participants graduated last month, they left the two-week program with improved business, management and leadership skills that they can immediately apply in their businesses.“Both the material presented and the faculty exceeded expectations,” said Patrick Smith of Matthews Tire, Green Bay, WI. “I feel that I am better prepared for future responsibilities because of my Tire21 experience. It’s a first-class program that focuses on the skills that are important to current and future business leaders.”
Tire Leadership 21 was specifically designed to develop the next generation of professionals who work in tire retail, commercial and retread environments. The program covered a wide range of business, management and leadership topics that are critical to the success of the independent tire and service industry. The program was created through a unique collaboration between a group of leading tire dealers – the Center for Tire and Service Education – and Northwood University, a fully accredited, private, non-profit business university that specializes in managerial and entrepreneurial education.
Gold Level Sponsors of Tire Leadership 21 included American Tire Distributors, Continental and Marangoni Tread North America. Each company generously donated scholarship funding that reduced each attendee’s tuition payment. Participants in this year’s class included professionals from tire retail, commercial and retread business from four countries.
The program’s structure featured a pair of one-week sessions (participants attended both sessions).
Session I was held in April at Northwood’s campus in Midland, MI. Participants reconvened in Sept. at Advance Auto Parts headquarters in Raleigh, NC. Between Sessions I and II, participants completed various group projects that investigated a topic of importance to tire professionals. The results of these projects were presented during Session II. In addition, participants were required to complete a written, individual business plan that delivers $25,000 in annual additional revenue or savings to their employers.
Academic support of the program comes from Northwood University. Northwood was founded in 1959 and grants bachelor’s (BBA) and master’s (MBA) degrees in a variety of business disciplines. Although Tire Leadership 21 is a non-degree program, it still leverages Northwood’s extensive academic resources, including its world-class faculty and residential campus.
Faculty for Tire Leadership 21 came from a combination of Northwood’s DeVos Graduate School of Management and subject-matter experts from within the tire and service industries. The program also included top-level guest speakers, such as Continental Vice President Bill Caldwell.
The program included a range of university-level tire dealer focused business, management and leadership subjects:
- Finance
- Accounting
- Business Strategy
- Management
- Corporate Vision
- Leadership
- Operations
- Industry Trends
- Marketing & Social Media
- Team & Corporate Culture
- The Customer Experience
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Resolution
The next Tire Leadership 21 program will begin in early 2016, with the first session to be held April 10-15 at Northwood’s campus in Midland, MI. The second session will be held September 11-16 in Raleigh, NC. The program fee is $5,995 and includes everything except for travel and lodging. Depending on available scholarship monies, fees may be reduced significantly. For more information and to register, please visit www.universityoftheaftermarket.com or call 1-800-551-2882.
