ERJ publisher wins US tire leadership award

Bowie, Maryland - David Zielasko, vice president of Crain Communications Inc. and publisher of Rubber & Plastics News, Tire Business and European Rubber Journal, is one of two winners of the 2017 Ed Wagner Leadership Award from the Tire Industry Association.

Zielasko became associate publisher of Tire Business in 1995 and publisher in 1998, according to the award citation issued by TIA. In his nearly 33-year career at the publication, Zielasko has written more than 1,000 news stories, news briefs, columns and editorials for the newspaper.

Also winning the Ed Wagner Leadership Award was Anthony Blackman, owner of Atlantic Tire & Service with three locations in Cary, Raleigh, and Durham, North Carolina. Blackman has won many awards for his business leadership, including the Large Business category in the Eastern Better Business Bureau Award for 2013.

TIA also announced three inductees to its 2017 Hall of Fame. They include:

The late Godfrey L. Cabot, founder of Cabot Corp., one of the world's greatest producers and innovators in the field of carbon black;

The late William T. Conklin III, president of Schenuit Tire and Rubber Co. and the first chairman of the Private Brand Lobby Group; and

Norman Gaither, founder and owner of DSP 20 Group, an innovative company that coaches tire dealers in how to improve profits.

All the award winners will be honoured at the Tire Industry Honors Award Ceremony, scheduled for the Paris Las Vegas Hotel 30 Oct.