RICK TILSON

Hometown:
Smyrna, GA

ABA Director - West Georgia Division 99

Pro Staff :
American Bass Anglers
Royal Purple
Hi-Seas
Save Phace
Secret Weapon Lures
G-Loomis
Re-Action Systems

Tournaments:
ABA American Fishing Tour

Highland Marine Tournaments-
Winter Extreme &
Trail Team Trail

Grand Slam Series

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2007 ABA Pro Staff Angler of the Year
10th Place Georgia Power Rankings - 2007
Toyota Tundra BASSMASTER Weekend Series - 2nd Place in Division 9 - 2007
Georgia State Tournament of Champions - qualified in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

BACKGROUND
After growing up in Northern New Jersey and fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass since the age of 5, I moved to South Carolina. Located on the coast, I did not get in much bass fishing for a couple of years but then moved further inland and to some great bass fisheries where my bass fishing tournament career began. I started tournament fishing in local clubs at an early age on lakes such as Lake Murray, Santee Cooper Lakes, and Clarks Hill. When we relocated to Smyrna Georgia, I found the American Bass Anglers tournament trial and began fishing the American Fishing Tour. After fishing ABA tournaments for three years, I decided to take on the responsibility of a tournament director. During this time I meet my wife of 7 years, Shannan. Whenever possible, Shannan enjoys traveling to the tournaments and volunteering her help as well as working the boat shows with us. For the 2007 tournament, I am fishing the American Fishing Tour, the Toyota Tundra BASSMASTER Weekend Series, and the Grand Slam Series.

WORK BIO
• Employer: Lafarge North America
• Occupation: Quality Control Manager for Ready Mixed Concrete
• Territory: North Georgia / North Alabama (North of I-20), 40 plants
• Experience: 15 years
• Education: Horry Georgetown Community College
• Certifications: NRMCA Level I & II, Det Norske Veritas Safety Management, Lafarge Leadership Training, 3 Public Speaking Courses
• Responsibilities: In production quality testing of ready mixed concrete, Troubleshooting technical problems, Claim resolution, Training Internal and External customers on properly placing concrete, concrete problems, and new value added concrete mixes
• Nominated for Presidents Commitment to Excellence

Lafarge North America is a worldwide company with over 70,000 employees in 70 countries. At Lafarge, we pride ourselves on technical innovations that provide value to our customers. One of the responsibilities of the Quality Control department is to create these concrete mixes. Then, we are responsible for training our employees and customers on the uses of these concrete mixes and how to properly place them. On average, I give one training seminar per month. The seminars have ranged in size from 10 to 50 people and last between one and four hours. I also work with many customers one on one explaining these new concrete mixes or helping them work out technical problems.