Wada to Retire from Bridgestone Firestone
Company announces successor, additional promotions
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 4, 2007) - Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) has announced that Masao Wada, a 37-year veteran of the Bridgestone group of companies and President of Bridgestone Firestone Manufacturing Operations (BFMO), a unit of BFNT, has elected to retire effective March 1, 2008. Wada, who will be succeeded by Steven Brooks, Vice President of BFMO, will also retire from his positions as Executive Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BSAH), BFNT's parent company. Brooks' appointment is effective January 1, 2008 in order to provide for a smooth management transition in this critical area. The company has also announced promotions in its Finance and Logistics areas.
Wada joined Bridgestone Corporation in 1971 and has served in a variety of positions within the Bridgestone organization, with initial assignments in the engineering area and the Overseas Plant Tech Coordination Department in Japan. In 1983, he transferred to the United States and was assigned to the LaVergne, Tenn. plant as a production and technical advisor. The LaVergne facility, which was purchased from the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company that year, was Bridgestone Corporation's first tire production facility in the United States. In 1989 he was assigned to work on the construction and start-up of the Warren County, Tenn. plant, BFNT's most technologically advanced plant at the time. The year 1993 saw Wada continue his U.S. assignment at BFNT's Decatur, Ill. plant in a technical planning function. Returning to Japan in 1994, he was appointed General Manager of the Manufacturing Department in the Kurume plant. Wada subsequently served as plant manager of the Nasu, Hofu, and Tokyo plants, and in 2002 returned to the United States as plant manger of the BFNT Aiken County, S.C. plant. He was promoted to his current position as President, BFMO in 2003 and added the title of Senior Vice President, BSAH that same year. He was promoted to Executive Vice President of BSAH in 2007. Wada holds a Masters degree in Applied Chemistry from Keio University.
Brooks has extensive experience in a manufacturing setting, joining BFNT's Warren County plant in 1989 as a key member of that plant's start-up team. Over the course of his Warren County tenure, Brooks accepted assignments of increasing responsibility, including Area Manager, Stock; Manager, Scheduling; and Division Manager, Operations. When BFNT constructed its new, state-of-the-art passenger tire manufacturing facility in Aiken County, S.C., Brooks was assigned to the plant in 1998 as General Manager, Manufacturing, a key role in any plant but an especially important responsibility during the start-up phase. He was then promoted to that facility's General Manager and Plant Manager in January and October, 2000, respectively. Moving to Nashville in 2002, Brooks was promoted to Vice President, Quality Assurance and accepted his current position as Vice President of Manufacturing in 2003. Brooks is currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Vanderbilt University.
"Masao Wada has been a valued and valuable member of the BFNT/BFMO team for many years," commented Asahiko "Duke" Nishiyama, President of BFNT. Continuing, Nishiyama said, "Whether in his critical role during the start-up of the Warren County plant or in his current position as President of BFMO and Executive Vice President of BSAH, Wada-san has made a tremendous contribution to the success that we as a company enjoy today. While we are saddened to see him leave us, Bridgestone Firestone is fortunate to have a very capable successor in Steve Brooks, an individual who is ready to accept the challenges and responsibilities that are so much a part of the position of BFMO President."
In addition to the changes at BFMO, the company has announced the following promotions:
Finance: John Pitman, currently Manager, Business Planning and Analysis, has been promoted to Director, Strategic Financial Planning, effective December 1, 2007. In this new position reporting to Ken Weaver, BFNT's Vice President of Finance, Pitman will assist BFNT and BSAH senior management in developing and directing the financial planning processes as well as the related financial and operational activities of BSAH's businesses. Reporting to Pitman will be the Financial Planning and Analysis group. Pitman, who holds both a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Finance from Bowling Green State University, joined the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron in 1983 as a Planning Analyst. His experience with the company has been broad and far-reaching, including assignments in the Retail Financial Planning, Planning and Acquisitions, and Affiliated Dealer groups. He has served as Manager of Business Analysis and Manager of Finance and accepted his current position, Manager for Business Planning and Analysis, in 2003.
Logistics: Curt Maggard, currently Manager of BFNT's Ontario, CA distribution center, will be promoted to Director, DC Operations, reporting to the company's Vice President of Logistics, Nelson Miller, effective January 1, 2008. The newly established position was created in order to further enhance BFNT's long-standing commitment to its customers to deliver the right tire to the right location at the right time. In this new management structure, all BFNT distribution center managers will report to Maggard.
About Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off the road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its customers in North America.
About Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.:
Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of the Bridgestone Corporation. BSAH, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies also produce air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and industrial fibers and textiles and operate the world's largest chain of automotive tire and service centers.
