news
March 1982
Fibers & Textiles Company Gastonia, North Carolina • Bennettsville, South Carolina
Bowling Green, Kentucky • Hopewell, Virginia • Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
JAMES B. CALL
An era of change
• “The last 12 of James B. Call’s 35 years Firestone service
were spent in Gastonia as president of the fibers & textiles
division. His work with the company, closed in February, was
during an era of major chginge for the division, including the
passing of the remaining cotton to cdl-synthetlc production,
new fabric-treating facilities, construction of a $2.3-million
warehouse, and consolidation of the Woodstock, Ontario,
Canada, and Hopewell, Va., operations with the division.
Mr. Call graduated from Clarion rubber and metal products divisions.
President Noble
James
B.Call
peft)
and
Ronald
E. Noble,
President of the fibers/textiles division, with a pen & ink drawing of the
Firestone-Gastonla plant tower. The drawing, a gift to Mr. Call upon his
retirement, was done by freelance artist Keith Hart of Roanoke Rapids,
N.C. Keith’s father, Lewis Hart, is a lead frame mechanic in TC Twisting.
Mr. Call, holding a “Best Wishes
in Retirement” message prepared
by the Gastonia Data Processing
and Persoimel and bearing the
names of himdreds of employees.
It, along with his 35-years service
award, w£is presented at a retire
ment dinner in February. Other
plants of the division sent similar
greetings.
With Mr. Call (from left): Jay H.
Rosenson, Group Vice President,
Firestone Corporate Development;
George W. Aucott, Vice President,
Group Vice President, North Ameri
can Tire Group; Ronald E. Noble,
President, Firestone Fibers & Tex
tiles Company; Leon R. Brodeur,
Group Vice President, North Ameri
can Tire; Ralph L. King, General
Factory Manager, Firestone Fibers
& Textiles.
SP&S Plan
Improvements
A revised Stock Purchase & Sav
ings Plan, effective March 1, has such
improvements as:
•Liberalizing the withdrawal pro
visions
•Shortening the vesting period
from 5 to 2 years
•Changing employee contribution
rate in relation to service, to allow
6% of earnings for those with less
than 20 years service, and 8% for
employees with 20 or more years.
DETTAILS of changes and improve
ments are In the new SP&S booklet,
dated March 1. Through the SP&S
Plan, the company add:^ $1 to every
S2 an employee Invests.
Personnel dep>artments at all plants
have the enrollment packet 55977. It
contains an enrollment blank, £ind for
those already participating, a form for
changing contribution amounts.
As of the latest report (January),
Firestone common stock for employ
ees in SP&S was bought at an average
$12.48. At that time. 6,293 employ
ees were participating in the Plan.
(Pa.) State Teachers College in 1939
and considered a teaching career. In
stead, he was a depeirtment store
clothing salesman 2 years. Then he
went to Penn State University to
study engineering, took 2‘/2 years out
for military service In WWll; returned
and finished his studies. That was the
year he joined Firestone.
HE CAME to Gastonia in 1969 from
an assignment as coordinator of
manufacturing for the company’s
$44.5 m. energy savings
All Firestone operating groups improved^their energy sav
ings in fiscal 1981, making a 3.8% gain over the previous year.
The North American Tire group and its raw materials opera
tions improved savings by 6.37% and 3.57% respectively.
These savings had a major Impact,
since North American Tire and Raw
Materials use 73% of the total cor
porate energy, said Donald Kline,
manager of energy-utlllzatlon
engineering. Both of these operations
had an Increase in production last
year.
(The Gastonia plant — in the tex
tiles division and belonging to North
American Tire group — had an
energy savings of almost $60,000.
This came about mostly from saving
in water-use, refinements in pro-
Hls earlier positions were In time
study, as industrial engineer, pro
duction manager, administrative
assistant to the general sales man
ager of Firestone Steel Products Com
pany, director of manufacturing of
non-tire divisions, and administrative
assistant to the vice president of diver
sified products.
Mr. and Mrs. (Marian) Call con
tinue living in Gastonia. She teaches
commercl£il subjects at Ashbrook
High School. He will pursue his
special Interests in music (playing
piano), growing flowers, reading;
teaching Sunday School at First
Presbyterian Church, and active as
a member of the board of directors
of Schiele Museum of Natural History
(he will become chairman in 1984).
The Calls have a daughter, Marina
(Mrs. James) Stockdale, Tampa, Fla.;
and a son, Jeimes B. Call III, Athens,
Ga. There are three grandchildren.
Ronald E. Noble, new presi
dent of the Fibers/Textiles
division, heis been with the
Gastonia (headquarters) plant
since last September. He was
president of the Synthetic
Fibers operation at Hopewell,
Va., from late 1974 until his
present assignment.
Mr. Noble, from Erie, Pa., Joined
Firestone’s plastics division in 1953
as a process engineer. Four years later
he was made group leader in vinyl
resins and in 1959 beceime manager
of the chemical pilot plant.
He was appointed technical man
ager of the chemical plant in 1964
and in 1967 made factory manager of
that plant. A year later, he was named
manager of the polyvinyl chloride
resins plant at PerryvUle, MD. He
became assistant to the vice president
of the chemicals and raw materials
division in 1974, a few months be
fore being advanced to president at
Hopewell.
Mr. Noble has a B.S. degree In
chemical engineering from Case
Institute of Technology. He Is a mem
ber of the Society of Plastics Engi
neers.
He is married to the former Joan-
elle Waters of Aberdeen, MD.
ductlon processes, heat recovery in
fabric-treating, and changes in light
ing.)
Firestone’s worldwide energy-
conservation program saved the
company $44.5 million in opera
ting costs during fiscal 1981. That’s
an annual savings of about 2.4 mil
lion beurels of oil.
Savings were realized despite a
16% annual inflation rate in energy
prices. Ffrestone’s total fuel bUl for
’81 was $139.4 million.
The ’81 savings, together with
OUR PRODUCTS
Steelex RTH
Firestone is supplying a radial tire
for the fast-growing market of pickup
trucks. The Steelex Radial Transfwrt
Highway (RTH) tire. Introduced in
late 1981, equips 3/4-ton and 1-ton
pickups.
First available in one metric size
(LT 235/85R16), It will be produced
Mercer UW
Award
Charles D. Massey, retiring presi
dent of United Way of Gaston County,
NC (1981), received the Harold Mer
cer Memorial Award at an annual
UW awards luncheon earlier this
year.
The Award commemorates the
longtime Firestone/Gastonia general
manager, who was a foimder and
once president of United Fund, later
United Way.
The Firestone manager, a native
of Seymour, Ind., came to Gastonia
in 1935 from Akron, Ohio, head
quarters. Associated with the com
pany’s textiles for more than 35
years, he retired as president of the
Division.
The Award is presented each year
to the outgoing president of the
county United Way. It weis estab
lished after Mr. Mercer's death in
1969.
those for the 1976-80 period brings
the savings for the 6 years the pro
gram has been in effect to $162.5
million.
in other sizes by June 1982, when
the RTH will be offered in the re
placement meirket.
The company's general product
planning dejjartment says the de
mand for radial light-truck tires is
expected to increase steadily during
the next 5 years. While the tire in
dustry shlpp)ed some 3 million tires to
this market last year, shipments are
expected to reach 12 million units
by 1986.
Firestone Fibers
& Textile Company
EQUAL
EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITY
Representatives
Gastonia
S. E. Crawford
Bennettsville
Clifton O. Logsdon
Bowling Green
Sal Costanza