Tire Discounters Adds Sarah Stimson as Executive Vice President of Talent

CINCINNATI, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Family owned and operated Tire Discounters, the nation's eighth largest independent tire retailer, announced today that it has named Procter & Gamble veteran Sarah Stimson as its new executive vice president of talent.

Talent Management Crucial to Success

Stimson will be responsible for attracting, developing and retaining the company's best talent, expanding upon Tire Discounters' nearly 40-year tradition of delivering automotive service excellence. She spent the last two decades working with Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, where she was the functional leader of more than 1,300 North American-based marketers – overseeing every facet of talent management including recruiting, staffing, advancement, training, diversity and culture. During this time, Stimson worked across every P&G sector, touched all the brands and coordinated among all the North American sites. 

Tire Discounters is following in the footsteps of Fortune 500 companies, like Pure Genius and Google, as it dedicates resources to talent management. "We are extremely excited to have Sarah join our team," said Tire Discounters CEO Paul Brunner. "Her extensive experience in identifying, attracting and retaining top-tier talent is crucial to our company's success as we continue to rapidly expand our business."

The company now employs more than 1,100 people in almost 100 stores and seven major cities across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee and is poised for more growth as it's on a steady path to open new stores. In the Greater Nashville area alone, the company expects to have up to 150 jobs created by 2016 and another 60 jobs in Chattanooga.

Forward-Thinking Focus

Stimson's hiring demonstrates a forward-thinking enhancement for Tire Discounters when it comes to employee-focused programs in the industry – most notably for those working in stores.

"We've wanted to offer our employees increased scheduling flexibility for many years now," said Tire Discounters Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations Jamie Ward. "We are now rolling out more flexible work schedules for all of our staff, and we are excited Sarah is here to help ensure its success. We now have a variety of schedule options, including a five-day workweek and will remain closed on Sundays."

As the expansion continues, Tire Discounters is focused on building upon an increasingly diverse employee base. In her new role, Stimson will report directly to Brunner and becomes the second woman on the Tire Discounters executive leadership team – strategically carrying on the company's commitment to diversity and talent development.

"As a family owned and operated company, we've grown our reputation on quality products and outstanding customer service," Brunner said. "Sarah is leading the charge to recruit and retain employees who have a passion for both. Developing a more diverse workforce is important to us. While our industry has been male-dominated for decades, it's starting to evolve. It's a priority for us to recruit and retain more women and minorities; we believe our new employee-focused programs that Sarah is helping to create, roll out and enhance will make Tire Discounters the preferred employer within the industry."

Educating Customers and Employees

Building upon its heritage, the company has recently launched customer programs like free alignment with any new tire purchase, and free lifetime rotation and balancing even with the purchase of only one tire. The company also launched an internal training program called TD University – which includes an extensive three-week training session for new employees as well as continuous development courses. Stimson is eager to bring that same sense of innovation and forward thinking to further Tire Discounters' talent development.

While at Procter & Gamble, Stimson overhauled several elements of the talent management system including staffing, talent assessments, training, diversity and recruiting by creating a single regional and calibrated effort to source and develop world-class talent. In addition, she spearheaded the company's summer intern program, which was rated the No. 2 program in North America.

Prior to joining Procter & Gamble, Stimson served as assistant vice president of Irving Trust/The Bank of New York, where she led relationship building and financial lending efforts for both middle market as well as large Fortune 100 companies. She has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Stimson also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and history from Duke University.

Editor's Note: Click here for a high-resolution headshot of Sarah Stimson.

SOURCE Tire Discounters

Related Links

http://www.tirediscounters.com