Featured speakers at this year’s California Tire Dealers Association’s CTDA/1-800 EveryRim New Year Luncheon—held January 26 in Santa Fe Springs, California—included Dick Gust, CEO of the Tire Industry Association (TIA), and Carlstar Group’s Steve Swanson, representing SEMA’s Wheel & Tire Council (WTC), both of whom outlined their organization’s various offerings.
(L–R): SEMA WTC’s Steve Swanson, TIA CEO Dick Gust, CTDA President Chris Barry, Host Billy Eordekian of 1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels, and diamond sponsor Jon Slania of Federated Insurance.
During the festivities, Ken Kevorkian was inducted into the CTDA Hall of Fame. Kevorkian, now retired, was one of the first CTDA members, serving as its president in 1993 and 1994. He also served as a director of the National Tire Dealers and Retreaders Association. In the ’50s, after fighting in the Korean War, he began his career at United Vulcanizing with his father. In addition, Kevorkian chaired the California Transportation Commission after being appointed by Governor George Deukmejian.
As president of the California-Nevada Super Speed Train Commission and as a director for the California State Assistance Fund for Enterprise, Business and Industrial Development, Kevorkian also found time to volunteer as board of trustees chair for the United Armenian Congregational Church in Los Angeles.
“We thank our sponsors without whom this event would not be possible. We were at capacity this year, and we are looking forward to having everyone back, plus more, on January 18, 2024,” said CTDA President Chris Barry of the Independent Tire Dealer Group (ITDG).
CTDA Hall of Fame inductee Ken Kevorkian.
Sponsors of this year’s luncheon were event host 1-800 EveryRim OEM Wheels, diamond sponsor Federated Insurance, gold sponsors Yokohama Tire Corp., Advanced Auto Parts, Mighty Auto Parts, RoboTire, TireTutor and Wholesale Tire Distributors. Silver sponsors were Penn Tires, Optimize Digital Marketing, NetDriven, ShopMonkey, Conceptual Minds and Atturo Tire Corp.