FORT MILL, S.C. — Continental Tire the Americas LLC (CTA) earned global recognition during the company’s recent ContiTire Awards ceremony in Hannover, Germany. Two of the five prestigious awards presented were given to CTA team members.

The ContiTire Awards is a long-standing company tradition that recognizes employees worldwide for superior achievements and commitment to excellence. Each year, company leaders present ContiTire Awards to acknowledge exceptional employee performance as part of project teams that provide outstanding value to the corporation.

CTA representatives say the division’s strong presence at the recent awards ceremony is indicative of the organization’s dedication and commitment to excellence — and its key role in Continental Tire’s success in the global marketplace.

"I would like to commend these Continental Tire team members for their dedication to our company and for their outstanding performance," said Matthias Schoenberg, CEO, Continental Tire the Americas. "Because of employees like them, Continental Tire has become the benchmark of quality and innovation."

The two CTA ContiTire Awards recipients were:
• Commercial Vehicle Tires Americas (CVT)
• Bruce Wells, manufacturing manager, Mt. Vernon, Ill.

The CVT Americas management team was acknowledged with a ContiTire Award in the "discovering and exploring growth opportunities" category. The team, consisting of John Barnes, Greg Bednarcik, Carlos Chavez, Arturo Christiani, Oscar Jiminez, Manisha Manmohan and Javier Mendoza, was honored for creating a network of ContiTread shops in Mexico that produce a Continental-brand retreaded truck tire option for fleet customers seeking a complete lifecycle solution.

The project team demonstrated outstanding determination, communication and innovation as they expanded production of ContiTreads, Continental’s commercial vehicle retread offering. These new ContiTread shops were a solution that maintained solid professional relationships with existing dealers in Mexico, including advances in equipment, processes and marketing strategies to meet the ever-changing tire needs of fleets, and created opportunities for new business with dealers and fleet customers alike.

Bruce Wells is CTA’s second 2010 ContiTire Award recipient. Since being appointed manufacturing manager at the Mt. Vernon, Ill., facility, Wells developed ideas to increase the plant’s production by more than 4,500 tires per day, while decreasing scrap totals and process costs. Wells’ leadership, paired with the team-first attitude and increased productivity at the Mt. Vernon facility earned Wells the ContiTire Award for "leadership to excellence."