Christopher Ball has been named as Senior Vice President of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company & President of North America Tire Operations (NATO) effective March 19. He will report to Brad Hughes, President & Chief Executive Officer. Ball assumes this role following the promotion of Phil Kortokrax to the position of Senior Vice President, Global Operations & Procurement. In his new role, Ball will be responsible for formulating and driving execution of strategic plans to grow Cooper’s business within the dealer-distributor network as well as in new sales channels. He will closely partner with the company’s operations and technical teams in the U.S., which focus on the design and manufacture of quality tires in safe and sustainable facilities, including four manufacturing plants, as well as supply chain operations. Ball joins Cooper following a 15-year career with Whirlpool Corporation. Most recently, he served as Global Vice President for the company’s KitchenAid small appliance business. As Senior Vice President, Global Operations & Procurement, Kortokrax, who has been with Cooper for nearly three decades, is responsible for overseeing the company’s global manufacturing operations, which includes eight tire manufacturing plants on three continents, as well as global procurement. He is also responsible for Cooper’s emerging global original equipment (OE) and worldwide truck and bus radial (TBR) tire businesses.