Bandag (Bridgestone Bandag LLC) is celebrating its 50th anniversary and commemorating this milestone at local celebrations honoring the half-century-old vision of Roy J. Carver, Bandag's founder.

"We believe this historic day marks the beginning of another chapter in Bandag's commitment to the vision of Bandag's founder, Roy J. Carver, to revolutionize the truck tire business," said Saul Solomon, Bandag chairman, CEO and president.
"Our team sees a future filled with great promise for our company, our customers and our communities."
As part of the festivities, Bandag donated $21,000 to charities in its communities:
· $15,000 to the Muscatine Salvation Army in Muscatine, Iowa
· $1,500 to the Long Beach Rescue Mission in Long Beach, Calif.
· $1,000 to Paramount Library in Long Beach, Calif.
· $1,000 to the United Way of Abilene in Abilene, Texas
· $1,000 to the Griffin-Spalding County United Way in Griffin, Ga.
· $1,000 to the ACIM Food Bank in Oxford, N.C.
· $500 to the Salvation Army in Muncie, Ind.

In addition to the events, mayors in several of Bandag's communities issued proclamations marking Dec. 20 as "Bandag Day." Bandag was founded on Dec. 20, 1957.

Bandag manufactures retreading materials and equipment for its worldwide network of more than 800 franchised dealers that produce and market retread tires and provide tire management services. Bandag's traditional business serves end-users through a wide variety of products offered by dealers, ranging from tire retreading and repairing to tire management systems outsourcing for commercial truck fleets.
Tire Distribution Systems, Inc. (TDS), a wholly owned subsidiary, sells and services new and retread tires. In addition, Bandag has an 87.5 percent interest in Speedco Inc., a provider of on-highway truck lubrication and routine tire services to commercial truck owner-operators and fleets.