Cooper Makes More Mexico JV Appointments

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reshuffled its finance team following the recently announced formation of its joint venture company in Mexico. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company de Mexico, is responsible for the marketing, sales and distribution of Cooper and Pneustone brands. Currently, the Pneustone brand is the house brand of Llanti Systems, a division of Grupo Dexel, a Mexico company with entities involved in transportation, energy distribution, auto parts, specialty equipment and tyre production.

The headquarters for Cooper Tire & Rubber Company de Mexico is in Querétaro, Mexico, the site of the headquarters for Grupo Dexel. A management team has been put into place under the leadership of Jim Smith, the newly appointed general director. Smith was formerly Cooper’s plant controller at the Texarkana, Arkansas, tyre manufacturing plant. Chris Barbara, formerly Cooper’s manager of sales training, will assist Smith as director of marketing. These two individuals, along with Hugo Ybarra, director of sales, will lead the core team primarily responsible for all activities associated with the new trading company.

Kerry Barnett, director of financial planning and commercial analysis, moves to become controller for the Texarkana plant. She previously worked as accounting manager, credit manager and senior analyst, after joining Cooper in 2001 as an analyst. Craig Durliat, manager of operations accounting, succeeds Barnett as director of financial planning and commercial analysis. Durliat joined Cooper in 1994 as an accountant in general accounting and moved to budgets. He also has worked as senior accountant and manager of cost accounting before consolidating budgets and costs into the operations accounting department.

Tim Albertson joins Cooper as director, global costs, succeeding Durliat. Most recently, Albertson worked as finance director for Great Lakes Window in Toledo. He previously worked as division controller for Lennox International-Armstrong Air Conditioning, Bellevue, Ohio. Albertson earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and German from Pennsylvania State University, and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, Calif. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany.

Chuck Scarlett joins Cooper as director of supply chain accounting, helping to plan and develop Cooper’s global tire sourcing within the global supply chain group. Scarlett comes to Cooper from Owens Corning Fiberglass, where he was finance and accounting team leader for three multinational divisions of OCF. Previously, he spent seven years at ThyssenKrupp (Atlas Crankshaft) Company, as accounting manager, plant controller and, in his last role with ThyssenKrupp, as division controller for the Machining Division of the company. Scarlett earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and became a certified public accountant in Illinois in 1994.

Dan Wurth joins Cooper as lead commercial analyst. Wurth previously worked for DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills, Mich., as pricing manager in Europe, senior financial analyst, senior auditor, invoicing specialist, customer service supervisor and financial adjuster. He also worked as a financial representative for American General Finance, Pontiac, Mich. Wurth earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, and a master’s degree in business administration from Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.