Although Discount Tire was founded in Ann Arbor in 1960 and Tim Ehinger grew up in West Branch, Mich., he first started working for the company selling and changing tires in Utah.

Now acting as Discount Tire’s regional vice president of operations for southeast Michigan, Ehinger’s first job out of college was working at a ski resort in Park City, Utah. His wife also worked at the same resort.

“We skied our brains out,” he said. “But after hanging out for a few years, we realized there was not a lot of future in it. Your body couldn’t hold up.”

Luckily, Ehinger had a good friend working at Discount Tire in Salt Lake who introduced Ehinger to the tire business. Ehinger started at the bottom rung and worked his way through the system, first to assistant store manager, then manager for several years, and then later moving to Dallas to serve as assistant vice president. After a few years in Dallas, he went back to Utah, and in 2006, he was asked to take his current position in Michigan, taking him full circle to the state where he grew up.

“It was a roundabout way of getting here,” Ehinger said. “I was one of the few natives of Michigan working for Discount Tire but didn’t find the company until I left the state.”

Having spent 23 years with a company that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Ehinger has been in a position to see the tire industry change over time.

He said the proliferation of types and sizes of tires has been one of the biggest challenges. Staff members need to have a good general knowledge about different tires and have to keep popular tire sizes and types in stock.

Ehinger’s daily and weekly challenges include keeping an eye on the competition, making sure prices are competitive, making sure the stores in his region are stocking the right products and making sure the right people are in key positions in those stores.

Ehinger credits the growth of Discount Tire, at least in part, to its efforts at maintaining a “small company feel” even as the company has grown and expanded into new markets.

“When I started with the company in 1987, we had about 179 stores,” Ehinger said. “And now, our growth plan for Discount Tire is to have 800 stores by the end of this year.”

He said the owner of the company still knows many of the company’s employees by name, and he is an inspiration to those starting at the bottom, because the owner of the company also started in a lowly position.

“One of the things that really motivated me as new employee with company was that the owner started by changing tires himself,” Ehinger said. “He was the model for everybody who came after him.”

Ehinger said that the company has grown steadily, even in Michigan’s rocky economy of the last few years.

“It’s a tough market right now, but we’re actually doing pretty well,” Ehinger said.

He said that a bad economy isn’t necessarily bad news for a tire company. When money is tight, people tend to buy and hold onto their cars rather than leasing or buying a new car every few years. That means more opportunities to sell tires to those car owners, Ehinger said.

“I’m really happy with successes we’ve been having in southeast Michigan. We’ve grown a little in the last four years — we’ve added two stores since I’ve been here, and we’re looking at establishing a few more.”

Background

Age: 49.

Education: Associate's degree from the College of Eastern Utah.

Family: Wife Shelley; son Mike, 21; daughter Whitney, 17.

Residence: South Lyon.

Business Insights

Best business decision: Going to work for Discount Tire Company.

Worst business decision: All of the bad ones were equally bad, I’m certain I will make more.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Stay educated, learn something new every day.

Personal hero: Bruce T. Halle (founder of Discount Tire Co.).

How do you motivate people? Provide opportunities, share the dream, and the rest should take care of itself. The best people are self motivated.

What advice would you give to yourself in college? Finish what you started.

Word that best describes you: Fortunate.

First website you check in the morning: E-mail.

Confessions

What keeps you up at night? Waiting for my daughter to get home.

Pet peeve: Not being able to see anything up close without reading glasses.

Guilty pleasure: If you feel guilty, you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

First job: Stocking shelves at Kmart.

First choice for a new career: Lake Powell House Boat Captain. Treasures

Favorite cause: Common sense.

Favorite book: “Good to Great.”

Favorite movie: “Braveheart.”

Favorite hobby: Anything outdoors.

Favorite restaurant: Brighton Bar and Grille

LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? Tried ‘em all. Just not into it.

Typical Saturday: No such thing - there's always something different happening.

What team do you root for? My daughter’s volleyball team.

Wheels: Preferably two. Who would play you in a movie? Steve Carell.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at sarahrigg@yahoo.com.