Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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  • Matt Gabriel performs an initial inspection of a newly-arrived tire at King Tire Service in Brushfork. Before the retreading process begins, each tire is thoroughly examined for punctures and defects. Staff photo by Jon Bolt

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September 24, 2011

New tire territory

King’s, Continental partner for first facility of its kind in US

By KATE COIL Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BRUSHFORK — What started as a small family business is now garnering national attention as King Tire Service in Brushfork formally cut the ribbon on a new tire retread facility and partnership with Continental Tire.  

Matt King, son of King Tire Service Owner Sam King, said the company is excited to be the first licensed Continental retread facility in the country.

“We do enjoy the challenge and it is very exciting to be the first Continental retread in the United States,” King said. “We had to think about this for many months before making the decision. We have been in the retread business for over 10 years and when Continental approached us, we thought it was a great opportunity.”

With the new partnership, King said the company has been able to provide more diverse training to employees and is now looking to expand the company even further.

“We were able to add more versatility to the jobs we have here,” King said. “It makes our company more marketable. Currently, we employ about 150 people and do 150 retreads a day. However, we are hoping to add a second shift with about 10 more jobs to try and increase that number to 300 retreads a day. Continental has allowed our company to grow significantly.”

When his father first built the company, King said no one in the family had any idea that King Tire would experience such growth.

“Dad started out in 1972 with two employees,” King said. “He had less than $100 in his pocket and it was very much a day-to-day, tire-to-tire thing.”

State officials as well as business officials from Brazil and Salt Lake City, Utah were given tours of the facility by Continental personnel to show how what is being done at King Tire could be done in their own businesses.

Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Marc Meachum said the new partnership is a testament to economic growth and ingenuity in the area.

“It’s interesting, amazing process that they do here and it’s a real tribute to King Tire that they are the first facility of this kind in America,” Meachum said. “They made this type of commitment not just to Continental but to all of Mercer County. A lot of tires come through here on a daily basis. There’s a lot of folks employed here who are doing good, technical jobs.”

Greg Bednarcik, a project manager engineer with Continental, said retreading tires allows drivers and companies to not only reuse tires but save money on gas mileage and equipment.

“We do two things mainly,” Bednarcik said. “The first is we retread for a customer who brings us in a tire casing and they can choose a specific retread, which is the majority of what we do. King also purchases casings and retreads them to sell the recycled project for half the price. Most of the cost of making a tire is in making the interior or casing of the tire. The tread can be replaced up to five times. For a tractor trailer, a tire may last 100,000 miles but if we retread that tire five times, the driver can get 500,000 miles out of one tire.”

Bednarcik said employees at King Tire begin the process of retreading with initial inspection to determine the needs of each tire. The tires are then X-rayed to ensure there is no separation of layers inside the tire, then they are sent to have excess rubber buffed or ground, to smooth out the tire’s surface. Employees repair and clean up spots and patch or add rubber before putting on the adhesive that attaches the new retread to the tire. Once the retread is attached, tires are put in a vacuum and pressed through a process known as “curing” or “cooking” the tires to ensure the new tread is firmly attached.

Clif Armstrong, director of marketing for Continental, said the company chose to open their first American retread facility in Mercer County because they were impressed with King Tire.

“We wanted to look for a company that would be a good location for our first retread facility and King Tire was just a great match,” Armstrong said. “The King family is very neat and unique. They built this company from the ground up. This is King Tire’s business and all Continental does is support them. King Tire took a chance on us because this is the first time we’ve done something like this as well.”

Armstrong said the partnership with King Tire will also help Continental develop the type of tires needed on the many coal trucks that work in the area.

“This particular dealership has a lot to offer that the coal industry requires,” Armstrong said. “Coal haulers are extremely tough on tires, especially since coal dust and coal ash are so abrasive. What we are doing with King is designing a product just for the coal market in this area. We are working on manual treads and retreads that the coal haulers prefer.”

King Tire currently has eight locations in the area, selling both commercial and passenger truck tires. The new retread facility in Brushfork employs 16 workers at a 25,000-square-foot facility, and is the first licensed in the U.S. to sell Continental retreads.

Continental hopes to use the King Tire as a launching pad for future facilities across the U.S. and Canada as well as South America.

— Contact Kate Coil at

kcoil@bdtonline.com

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