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Our Story



The Story of Wilkerson Company





Buster and Mae Wilkerson founded Wilkerson Company, under the name B&M Enterprises, in 1947 carrying mail from the trainyard to the post office in a 1934 Ford truck. Buster, who received most of his formal education in the Army during World War II, had a very good mind for mechanics and business and soon opened an automotive scrap yard. This endeavor led to a used car dealership and eventually a new Ford dealership in 1953 under the name, “Wilkerson Ford Company.” Having been raised in a poor family, Buster recognized the value in car and truck tire retreading, so he began retreading tires in the basement of the Ford dealership building, quickly expanding into a small adjacent building.


At this same time, Buster and Mae had been raising two sons: Jim and Bill Wilkerson. Mae was probably ahead of her time, as she found a way to juggle her family with being very active in running the business. Both brothers grew up around the car dealership and retread shop and worked for the family business along with other employees. Teenage Bill dreamed of becoming an airline pilot, while practical Buster, who had never flow in an airplane, was skeptical. Unbeknownst to his family, Buster called on a few local friends with airplanes to familiarize him with aviation. Soon, Buster and 14 year-old Bill went in halves on a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub and began taking flying lessons. During the exploits of their pilot training in 1965, Buster and Bill became acquainted with members of the FAA while hanging around Byrd Field in Richmond, Virginia. Learning of the family’s background in tire retreading, one of the FAA inspectors wondered why the Wilkerson’s did not try retreading aircraft tires.


Buster went on to become VFR and IFR certified and Bill soloed on his 16th birthday and received his CFI on this 18th birthday. A very determined Buster was intrigued by the idea of retreading aircraft tires, so he initiated the process for FAA certification and received an Air Agency Certificate by July of 1966. While the aircraft tire retreading division was in its infancy, Buster purchased a new Piper Cherokee Six and used it to create a regional tire casing distribution system to grow the car and truck tire business. While the aircraft business was starting to grow, Jim was attending college and Bill was serving in the U.S. Army during the time of the Vietnam War.



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Jim went on to graduate school and a career in college-level physical education, while Bill returned to the family business to focus on aircraft tires and to start a Nascar Late Model Sportsman race team. The Wilkerson Team car used retreads with a special Firestone racing compound and, with local legend Al Grennen at the wheel, was a very tough contender on the local dirt tracks of the time. Wilkerson racing retreads became known for their consistent traction and long-wear, which brought much new business to the Wilkerson retread shops. During this period of time, the Wilkerson team would occasionally square off against the likes of Darrel Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, and many other notables.


In the late 60’s through the 70’s, the commuter airlines emerged and grew. Even though there were as many as 18 independent retreaders when Wilkerson became FAA certificated in 1966, some of Buster and Bill’s innovative retreading process features helped Wilkerson to capture most of the market. Several airlines with roots to the 60’s and 70’s are still customers of Wilkerson to this day. Wilkerson became an authorized distributor for Dunlop and Goodyear aircraft tires in 1974. The aircraft tire retreading business grew large enough that Wilkerson discontinued the selling and retreading of car, truck and racing tires in 1980.


In 1983, Buster retired from full-time work at Wilkerson to spend more time with Mae, who was ailing with rheumatoid arthritis, but still came in almost every day to read the paper and help with special projects. In 1985, Jim rejoined the family business to help the company cater to its many growing customers. Sara, Jim’s daughter, joined the team in 1993, bringing a background in business and accounting. Bill Jr started full-time employment at Wilkerson after college graduation in 1996, with a background in business and production. Jayne, Bill Sr.’s daughter, came to the company in 2004 after working in the financial sector for a number of years. Buster and Mae were very proud to have the third generation working in the business. After 31 years back with the family, Jim retired in July of 2016 to become a gentleman farmer.


Wilkerson has continued to grow and make advancements in aircraft tires and retreading over the recent years. Wilkerson was one of the first retreaders in the US to have an approved process to retread radial aircraft tires. Wilkerson’s proprietary NDT leak testing method is able to locate leaks that are undetectable using the standard industry methods. Wilkerson has a wide-range of capabilities and frequently helps the major tire manufacturers with special research projects, such as prototype water deflector chines, alternate tread groove designs, and improvement of balance patch adhesion. Wilkerson also invented and patented the Accuflate tool to help its customers achieve easier and more accurate maintenance of hot tires on their aircraft. To maintain the highest level of retread quality, Wilkerson is one of the only retreaders to invest in its own, in-house, rubber testing lab. Most recently, Wilkerson developed its own advanced tire tracking software, which tracks every detail for every tire sold and retreaded from cradle to grave. This analytical data is highly valuable for making improvements that give customers extra value.

Buster and Mae have since gone on to be with their creator, but their legacy lives on with the two generations that currently operate the company and the promise of the fourth generation. Buster and Mae believed in family, treating the customer like you would like to be treated, giving people a fair deal, and going the extra mile. The Wilkerson family continues on, not only selling aircraft tires, but providing extra value and convenience to customers, and forging relationships.



Our Story Goes On...



Wilkerson experienced a massive factory fire on April 23rd, 2021





Friday morning, April 23, 2021, started off like many normal, uneventful Friday mornings. It was a beautiful day with temperate April weather and hardly a cloud in the sky. There was the usual smell of rubber hanging in the air and employees were buzzing about their weekend plans. At about 10:55am, this non-memorable, routine Friday morning became a day that we will never forget.

A machine operator first noticed smoke behind his machine and that smoke quickly became a flame, which engulfed the wall and then the entire area within several minutes. Several employees attempted to extinguish the expanding blaze in vain, and were forced to evacuate the building because of how rapidly the fire was spreading and how quickly the black smoke was obscuring visibility. Due to a perfect storm of conditions, the fire quickly spread to the large adjacent retread production building. Employees evacuated the buildings to the a safety of the parking lot, where we stood together and watched the thick black smoke rise into the blue sky, on a day that had turned on a dime from ordinary, to life-changing. As the fire personnel arrived and the fire raged, friends, familys, and the community gathered to share in the horror, offer food and drink, and to show support.
By the end of that day, it was obvious that Wilkerson's two main retread production buildings and all of the equipment therein was a total loss. Even as the buildings were still burning, the Wilkerson Aircraft Tire team resolved to do two things: support our customers through this tragedy and take care of our employee family. By Tuesday, April 27, Wilkerson relocated its shipping area, repaired its network and information system and shipped tires from its unaffected warehouses to customers. At the same time, the Wilkerson team spent the following weeks recovering tooling, counting what was lost, and assessing the best way to move forward as a business and also for the good of the aviation tire industry.
For the long-term sustainability of the tire supply, it was apparent that Wilkerson needed to restore its retreading capability very quickly, eliminating the possibility of rebuilding on the company's site in Crewe, where it had been situated since about 1952. Wilkerson began an exhaustive search for a suitable building and was very blessed to find an ideal property within 10 miles of the Crewe location, in the neighboring town of Blackstone, Virginia.


Wilkerson was able to purchase the property in mid-June and Wilkerson's own employee-family prepared and refurbished the building for our move-in. Wilkerson had a number of spare and surplus machines in Crewe that were not affected by the fire, but needed a number of additional machines and some tooling fabrication in order to operate our new factory. Thanks to our partners and friends in the retreading industry and community, we were able to obtain the crucial equipment that we lacked in order to set-up the new factory. On July 26th, Wilkerson relocated the administration offices and began taking calls, shipping and receiving in the new location. On August 13th, Wilkerson retreaded the first tires at the new location and began 24 hour operations on Monday August, 16th.

Thanks to much hard work, prayers, careful planning, and help from the local community and aviation community, Wilkerson has been able to take care of its customers and employee-family through this harrowing ordeal and recovery process. Even though this fire was life-changing and devastating, it has resulted in many extra blessings for our family. First, we have a renewed sense of gratitude for the many blessings God has put in our lives (many in the form of people and relationships) and second, we have realized the many new possibilities that the new facility offers for Wilkerson to serve the aviation community that were not previously possible.

Going into 2022, Wilkerson's 75th year in business, Wilkerson owes a lot of "thankyou's" to the many airlines, flight schools, operators, and private customers who have been our partners for many years and even decades. We are grateful for the company legacy of integrity, good customer service, "the customer is always right", and simply treating people as you would like to be treated, that was born-into the company when my grandparents founded it in 1947. This legacy has been built upon by Bill and Jim Wilkerson (2nd generation) and now Bill Jr., Sara, and Jayne (3rd generation). Even with all the reflection over the 75th year in business and the wonderful foundation that has been laid, we are looking at this 75th year as a new beginning for Wilkerson, much like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. As we look to the future of Wilkerson, we aspire to reach new customers, offer more services, reach new markets, offer ever-rising levels of quality and value, and to continue to treat people the way we would like to be treated.

God Bless,
Bill Wilkerson Jr.







1033 Church Street, Blackstone, Virginia 23824 434.645.9641



Wilkerson company, inc.