2024 Small Business of the Year (More than 15 Employees) - Smetzer's Tire Center

Chad Kieffer

President,

Smetzer’s Tire Center

Congratulations to Smetzer's Tire Center on being named the 2024 Small Business of the Year (More than 15 Employees) Award recipient!

Much has changed in the tire industry since Smetzer’s Tire Center opened its doors in 1957, but one thing has not: The company’s commitment to delivering quality products and services.

That commitment has led to Smetzer’s Tire being named a Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in the over 15 employees category.

“I was partly in disbelief” upon hearing the news, President Chad Kieffer said. “I had to check with (Chamber President) Samira (Zimmerly) to see if it was real.” She assured him the nomination went through an official vetting process.

“It was humbling that somebody looked at us and said we are worth it when we are just here doing our job,” Kiefer said. “We have good people here, and we wouldn’t have received this award without them. This is a team effort.”

Richard Smetzer, now 92, started the company, before passing the baton to his son, Ken Smetzer. After Ken Smetzer retired, his daughter and son-in-law Jessie and Chad Kiefer have been guiding and growing the business.

Smetzer’s Tire, with about 40 workers, has three retail centers in downtown Wooster, Mount Vernon, and Lancaster. It also has three commercial centers in the same cities. While Wooster has a separate commercial center, those in Lancaster and Mount Vernon are combined with the retail operations there.

On the retail side, Smetzer’s Tire offers alignment, brakes, tires, tire repair, wheel balancing, tire rotation, and maintenance services.

On the commercial side, it provides on-site services to farms, roadside services, and it operates a retread facility. The company retreads between 12,000 and 13,000 tires annually under the Michelin umbrella.

“It’s nice to know we have something special here,” Kiefer said about Wooster. “It has a small, hometown feel, yet we have the conveniences of a large town.”