WASHINGTON, DC — The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) has elected new chairmen for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

Thomas Dattilo, chairman, president and CEO of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the RMA for 2005. Dattilo has been CEO of Cooper since April 2000.

Mark Emkes, chairman and CEO of Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. and Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT), will serve as chairman in 2006. Emkes was named chairman, president and CEO of Bridgestone Americas Inc. in April 2004 and has served as chairman and CEO of BFNAT as well since September 2002.

In other news from the RMA, Laurie Baulig has been hired as general counsel and senior vice president of regulatory affairs for the association.

Baulig was previously employed with Gurne, Porter and Baulig, PLLC, and has worked with RMA for the past three years as outside counsel.

She has represented business trade associations and corporations in rulemaking proceedings conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other administrative agencies.

Baulig also spent 12 years with the American Trucking Associations (ATA). She worked as an associate chief counsel for the ATA Litigation Center, led ATA’s labor and human resources policy department and later became senior vice president for policy and regulatory affairs.

Before joining ATA, Baulig served as an associate attorney in the antitrust practice group of a Washington, D.C., firm and was an antitrust litigator for the Federal Trade Commission.

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