Bridgestone Retail Operations Day

Proclamation
By the Governor of Alabama

WHEREAS, Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, pulled the engine switch that put the first Firestone facility in operation on August 3, 1900, in Akron, Ohio, leading to the production of the company’s first rubber tires; and

WHEREAS, Firestone joined the retail store arena offering basic car service and tire sales in the mid-1920s when the original Firestone Service Centers were opened; and

WHEREAS, in 1988, Bridgestone acquired The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, which transformed Bridgestone into the world’s largest tire and rubber company; and

WHEREAS, Bridgestone Retail Operations, or ‘BSRO,’ a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., operates the largest network of company-owned tire and automotive service providers in the world, including nearly 2,200 tire and vehicle service centers throughout the United States; and

WHEREAS, BSRO opened its first location in Pelham, Alabama, in 1930 and now employs 300 people in our state; and

WHEREAS, the Bridgestone mission is serving society with superior quality, building its foundation on integrity, teamwork and creative pioneering; and

WHEREAS, on October 6, 2015, at Vestavia Country Club in Birmingham, Stuart “Stu” Crum, current president of Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC, is the keynote speaker for the 34th Annual Alabama Retail Day; and

WHEREAS, Alabama Retail Day is a cooperative venture of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Business, and the Alabama Retail Association; and

WHEREAS, Bridgestone, and Firestone before it, has been the lead sponsor of Alabama Retail Day since 2006:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim October 6, 2015, as

Bridgestone Retail Operations Day

in the State of Alabama.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 18th day of September 2015.

Robert Bentley
Governor