Our Association began on May 23,1952 as a Massachusetts Non-Profit Corporation with the name of "New England Association of Independent Tire Dealers" (NEAITD). Our first president was Joseph Abel from Rutland, Vermont who has been followed by fifty-three Presidents that had businesses throughout New England (see list below).
The Board realized, in 1999, that most retail members of the Association were also performing vehicle maintenance services. Thus, the first Mission Statement was then initiated, and work began on a new name and complete new set of bylaws. This time consuming task was completed in 2000, and a vote was taken on April 8, 2000, by the members at our Annual Meeting, to accept the new bylaws and the name change to the "New England Tire & Service Association" (NETSA).
About this same time, the Board decided to start a Scholarship Program to help our members with the growing cost of higher education. We started out with three $500 scholarships (total $1500) and have grown over these twenty years to awarding twenty $2,000 scholarships in 2020 (total $40,000). Please see the scholarship page.
We have also worked hard to present New England with a Trade Show each year. It started as a 10,000 square foot show at many different alternating locations throughout New England. In 2005 our Board decided to have our Trade Show at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT to see if we could grow our attendance to the show by taking 20,000 square feet. Our show took off and is now the largest regional tire & service association show in the country with over 700 attendees in 2019 at Foxwoods.
We are an active and growing association. We have been adding many benefits for our members, with many members saving thousands of dollars by using them. Our Legislative Committee has testified and helped pass or defeat legislation in all 6 New England States. We have had a growing golf outing where all the proceeds go directly to our Scholarship Fund (21 Recipients awarded Scholarships in 2024). In 2008, a Hall of Fame was added to our association, and we now have thirty-six members. To top off all this excitement, our membership has grown each of the last fourteen years from 237 members in 2003 to 570 members in 2020.
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