Cooper Tire Introduces Advanced Dealer Education Program

FINDLAY, Ohio, May 28-- Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has completed the first of three sessions for an innovative dealer education program. Conducted May 21 through May 23, the first session of the Cooper Advanced Management Program (CAMP) was launched with 20 tire dealers participating.

The only program of its kind in the tire industry, CAMP is designed similar to an executive MBA format by providing a large amount of information and practical knowledge in a concentrated period of time. The teaching style is geared toward adult learning with significant interaction and case studies. All CAMP instructional courses are specifically designed and tailored to meet the challenges and opportunities facing the independent tire dealers.

"Our primary objective is to provide quality business skills training and educational opportunities to our dealers, allowing them to increase their overall effectiveness in managing their businesses for profit and growth," explains Greg Ring, sales and marketing training manager. "It will also assist our dealers with succession planning, making sure their successors are ready to lead the business into the future."

Lessons for the first session included Effective Financial Management for the Independent Tire Dealer. In addition, a discussion on managing change and team motivation was held, featuring the best-selling book, FISH.

"The focus in this session was financials and during conversations I found a way to save $20,000 in our business immediately - very simply - without making a lot of changes to the way we do our business," says Jeff Cohen, co- owner of Traction Wholesale, Trenton, NJ. "I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming sessions."

Craig Questelle, who has only been in the tire business for 30 days, says these sessions enabled him "to apply some of the things I've learned in the past to the tire business."

"This program got me over the fear of being new. Now I can go back and jump right in," says Questelle, store manager for Raben Tire Company, Marion, Ill. "Cooper realizes the importance of good relationships and this program is an extension of that."

Subsequent topics, which will be discussed during sessions in October and the first quarter of 2003, include Leadership and Performance Management, Human Resource Issues and Answers, Sales and Marketing Management, Legal Management and Asset Management.

"This program is designed to better educate our dealers in all areas of running their business," says Ring. "We want to enhance their existing management skills and also educate them on topics they may never have been exposed to in the past. Upon completion, they'll receive a CAMP diploma at a graduation dinner."

All sessions will be conducted in Findlay, Ohio, the home of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, and will be taught by professionals from the Cooper sales training department, Cooper managers, Cooper Learning Center personnel and outside experts.

For many years Cooper Tire has focused on education and training for its employees and dealers. Enhancing that focus, the Cooper Learning Center was created in 1999 and employees were challenged to complete 40 hours per year in education and training. The Cooper sales training and marketing department and Cooper Learning Center are working in cooperation to provide this innovative program to tire dealers.

"CAMP combines Cooper's concentration as a learning organization and a market-leader in customer service," says Cooper CEO Tom Dattilo. "We are delighted to be offering such an outstanding and unique program to our dealers. We want our dealers to be prosperous, not only because their success translates to our success, but because we have long-standing relationships with the people running these businesses. We want to provide them with the best tools to become, or maintain, leading positions within their markets."

Company Description

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio and specializes in the manufacture and marketing of automotive products. Products for Cooper Tire include automotive, motorcycle and truck tires, inner tubes, tread rubber and equipment. Cooper-Standard Automotive is an original equipment supplier of sealing, trim, NVH control systems and fluid handling systems for the automotive industry in North America, Europe, Australia and South America. Cooper has more than 20,000 employees and 52 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. For more information, visit the Company's web site at: www.coopertire.com .