Ken Langhals, MTD's 2025 Tire Dealer of the Year, explains why and how his company, K&M Tire Inc., helps people in need.
"We make an effort to support local organizations because we should try to make a difference, wherever we are,” Langhals told MTD. “I feel we all have talents and gifts that can truly make a difference. We should be good neighbors and help each other.”
Langhals and K&M Tire, as a whole, support an array of non-profits and charitable organizations. On a personal level, his favorite group is Angels of Hope, which is part of an organization called Food For the Poor. “Angels of Hope is a child sponsorship initiative that provides support to abandoned or neglected children in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
More locally, Langhals supports the Delphos Economic Sustainability Coalition (DESC), an organization that encourages small businesses in downtown Delphos “to improve the looks of their businesses” through grants and loans that DESC provides, “which in turn, helps everyone to be proud of Delphos and support local businesses.”
Langhals also encourages K&M Tire employees to give back. The company offers employees “the opportunity to receive $50 twice a month if they volunteer to help a local cause after work hours,” he says. If a K&M Tire location holds a collection to benefit charity in its area, K&M Tire will match the collected amount. (K&M Tire has more than 40 distribution centers stretching from Maine to New Mexico and from the Dakotas to Texas.)
"We also help people and families directly,” he says. On multiple occasions, K&M Tire has helped people with housing. “We’ve had houses built for families who were in need. We sponsor multiple children in different orphanages, so they have a safe place to live. We’ve also renovated some condemned buildings and replaced them with new, modern
buildings to help the city.
"I believe we are here on earth to help each other. It's because of all the great people at K&M, our customers and our suppliers that K&M can make a difference in our communities and the world around us."
To read more about Langhals, click here.
About the Author
Mike Manges
Editor
Mike Manges is Modern Tire Dealer’s editor. A 28-year tire industry veteran, he is a three-time International Automotive Media Association Award winner, holds a Gold Award from the Association of Automotive Publication Editors and was named a finalist for the prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award - often referred to as "the Pulitzer Prize of business-to-business media" - in 2024. He also was named Endeavor Business Media's Editor of the Year in 2024. Mike has traveled the world in pursuit of stories that will help independent tire dealers move their businesses forward. Before rejoining MTD in 2019, he held corporate communications positions at two Fortune 500 companies and served as MTD’s senior editor from 2000 to 2010.