EXECUTIVES' CLUB

Biographical Info

Hometown: Mayville, North Dakota

May-Port CG High

Mayville State University

Member 199 | February 20, 2018

My roots are in small town North Dakota. This state and its people are important to me; I am proud to do business here, combining my skills in finance and management to lead a growing company that provides something essential to North Dakotans – tires, auto repair, parts, tracks and automotive equipment. O.K. Tire Store, Inc., now 15 locations and 210 employees strong, continues its 60-year legacy providing tires for cars, farm equipment, trucks and OTR (for personal, commercial and fleets). Originally a family-owned company, O.K. Tire is now employee-owned (ESOP), a conversion I helped to facilitate for the company owner before his retirement. I attended Mayville State University where I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in business and management with an emphasis on accounting.

I am known for the traits of integrity, continuous process improvement, and accountability.

INTEGRITY
I believe in integrity: both employees and customers need to be treated fairly. Our sales and service people are fairly compensated and have access to in-house training leading to tire industry specialty certifications. Our customers deserve a great / good product at a fair price. We quote our prices in “out the door pricing” terms. Rather than quoting the price of the tires alone and then surprising them with charges for installation, balancing, etc., we disclose the “full” price of the tires, always. We think this is the fair thing to do: to let the customer know, up front, what their actual cost for the tires will be. No bate and switch; no misleading partial price disclosure.

CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
There is always a better way to do something: a way that is more efficient; a way that makes better sense. Our company culture is designed to identify and implement new ideas to help us move forward. We believe that employees hold the key to identifying both potential problem areas and potential solutions. At every meeting, we listen. We solicit ideas. We implement changes and see if it works better; if not, we circle back and try something else.

ACCOUNTABILITY
We believe in doing the right thing – always. And I believe that doing what you say you’re going to do is essential. We actively model this for our employees and our company values stress the importance of being accountable as well. Because O.K. Tire Store, Inc. is an employee owned company, I am accountable for my own actions, the actions of the company and its employees, and the financial performance of the company. When we do well, every employee shares in our success.

Contact: dsand@oktireinc.com