Toyota Honored By National Minority Supplier Development Council

Toyota Honored By National Minority Supplier Development Council For Its Commitment With Diverse Suppliers

Toyota recognized as the 2011 Corporation of the Year for its $1 billion investment, development and advocacy in minority businesses across the United States

Toyota was named the Corporation of the Year 2011 by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) for its continued commitment to minority suppliers and diverse communities. The award recognizes the company’s leadership around supplier diversity that impacts all areas of its business operations. 

 

“Toyota is honored to receive this award from NMSDC for our efforts to support minority business inclusion and to partner with the organization for more than 20 years,” said Shigeki Terashi, president and COO of Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. “Our company’s foundation – The Toyota Way – is built on continuous improvement and respect for people and this award reinforces our desire to find ways to strengthen and improve our processes, especially through supplier diversity.”

 

This is the second time Toyota was awarded this honor, selected by a NMSDC national committee comprised of minority business owners, for its commitment to maintaining a supplier base which reflects the diversity of its customers and the diversity of the team members who build and sell Toyota vehicles in North America.

 

“This recognition is reserved for corporations that fully embrace the value that minority suppliers bring to the corporate supply chain,” said NMSDC President Joset Wright. “Toyota’s commitment to supplier diversity and minority supplier development is firmly embedded in the corporate culture. Its comprehensive, world-class supplier diversity process is worthy of replication.”

 

Despite economic fluctuations in the automotive industry, Toyota has maintained its MBE supplier base, as well as a $1 billion commitment to partnering with minority-owned businesses.Through its operations, workforce and supply base, the company is dedicated to reflecting the many different cultures, backgrounds and outlooks of its customers and the communities in which they do business.

 

“I take great pride in my more than 10 years business partnership with Toyota,” said Berto Guerra, chairman and CEO of Avanzar Interior Technologies. “Toyota has provided my company the support and opportunity to help ensure the growth vitality of my business and the community of San Antonio.”

 

Over the past several years, Toyota has been recognized as a leader in diversity and inclusion through various awards from Black Enterprise, DiversityInc, the Human Rights Campaign and Hispanic Business. Toyota was the co-winner of the Corporation of the Year award from the National Minority Supplier Development Council in 2004. The company has also been recognized as Corporation of the Year by the following NMSDC regional councils:

 

• Tri-State Minority Supplier Development Council which includes Kentucky, Southeast Indiana and West Virginia (2005-2010)
• South Central Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council (2007)
• Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (2009); Co-Winner (2010)*
• Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council (2010)

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and currently operates 14 manufacturing plants, including one under construction in Mississippi. There are more than 1,800 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealerships in North America which sold more than 2 million vehicles in 2010. Toyota directly employs more than 35,000 in North America and its investment here is currently valued at more than $23 billion, including sales and manufacturing operations, research and development, financial services and design. Toyota’s annual purchasing of parts, materials, goods and services from North American suppliers totals nearly $25 billion. Toyota currently produces 12 vehicles in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4, Sienna, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra, Venza and the Lexus RX 350.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com.

About The National Minority Supplier Development Council

The National Minority Supplier Development Council, one of the country's leading business membership organizations, provides a direct link between corporate America and minority-owned businesses.  It was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.  www.nmsdc.org 

*The Detroit-based Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC) has among its members about 130 African American-owned automotive suppliers that gross more than $10 million a year. MMSDC president is Louis Green hosts bi-monthly webinars on Supplier Diversity.  www.MinoritySupplier.com 

"Detroit is the new Frontier!" Louis Green, President, Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council

Where there is no struggle, there is no strength. --Oprah Winfrey

Louis Green, Celebrity the Stars of Diversity Event 2011

Diverse Business: Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council

Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council: 28th Annual Stars of Diversity Awards
October marks National Minority Business Month across the nation. In Detroit, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC) gathers more than700 minority business owners and the nation's top corporate brass.



This annual event which is held every year during Minority Business Month, "celebrates the stars of diversity. " The honorees are acknowledged for their work that made $12 billion in contract opportunities possible for the members of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC).

This Grammy-Style Awards Show and Strolling Dinner had Rhonda Walker, morning anchor on local NBC Affiliate (WDIV Detroit) as the Mistress of Ceremonies.

"We were glad to highlight companies like SET Enterprise, who was recently featured in Black Enterprise, and won the Diamond Award because he goes out of his way to help other minority businesses," said Louis Green, President/CEO of MMSDC.

Hear the podcast of Sid Taylor, the President of SET Enterprise, on the Diverse Business show: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diversebusiness/2011/09/19/ ...#

This sold-out event celebrated the extraordinary achievements of those in the supplier diversity industry.

Special Guests this year included: City of Detroit Mayor, Dave Bing and Tony Brown, MMSDC Chairman of the Board and Group Vice President, Global Purchasing, Ford Motor Company, and Reverend Jesse Jackson, Rainbow PUSH.

2011 Award Winners

Corporation of the Year - OEM
Ford Motor Company
Corporation of the Year - Professional
Kelly Services Inc.

Corporation of the Year - Commercial Products
Herman Miller Inc.

Corporation of the Year - Manufacturing I
Johnson Controls, Inc.

Corporation of the Year - Finance & Insurance
The Auto Club Group (AAA Michigan)

Corporation of the Year - Construction
Walbridge

Corporation of the Year - Consumer Products
DTE Energy
Corporation of the Year - Health Care
Henry Ford Health System

Corporation of the Year -Education and Govt Entities
Wayne State University

Corporation of the Year - Information Technology
IBM Corporation

Corporate Buyer of the Year - National
Jonathan Pratt - Jonhson Controls, Inc.

Corporate Buyer of the Year - Local
Eric Newton - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan


Minority Business Advocate of the Year - National
Kevin Bell - Chrysler Group LLC

Minority Business Advocate of the Year - Local
Donna Strickland - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan


Diamond Award
Sid E. Taylor - SET Enterprises

Class I (Sales less than $1M)
Unique Expressions LLC

Class II (Sales bet. $1M - $10M)
Powerlink Facilities Management Services

Class III (Sales bet. $10M - $50M)
The Epitec Group, Inc.

Class IV (Sales over $50M)
Vision Information Technologies, Inc. (VisionIT)

President's Award
Burt Jordan, Ford Motor Company
Chris Genteel, Google, Inc.

About MMSDC
MMSDC is a non-profit, 501c 3 organization. Founded in 1977, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC) has more than 1,200 certified minority businesses and over 300 corporate members working to further its mission to certify minority businesses; provide access to procurement opportunities; and develop capacity for minority business development. The MMSDC was recognized by the National Minority Supplier Development Council as "Council of the Year" for its work with major corporations to promote minority business development and growth.. For more information visit the MMSDC's website at http://www.minoritysupplier.org.

Louis Green: Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award

It's a good thing that the Detroit Free Press prints "good" news once in a while! This was an excellent front page story about Louis Green winning the "Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award" and his commitment to increasing diverse business across the state.



"The thing I like most is we get to make a connection with talented business owners and help them make their dream a reality," said Louis Green.



Congrats to Mr. Louis Green, President/CEO of Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.

Amplify’d from www.freep.com

Louis Green, president and CEO of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, stands in a skywalk to the Fisher Building in Detroit. Colleagues praise his ability to stay focused and flexible. / PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press

Louis Green was one in a group of 12 children who lived in a south-central Los Angeles neighborhood during the rise of gang violence. "Out of them, there are seven who are dead, two sentenced to life in jail, one serving 86 years, and I don't know where one is," Green said. But Green, president and CEO of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, said the tough circumstances of his childhood allowed him to excel. "It drives me all the time," he said. That drive has helped him change lives by getting corporations throughout the state and minority business leaders to work together. It's also one of the reasons Green was selected to receive the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award. Off to Ohio Green, 50, escaped the streets of Los Angeles when he accepted a full scholarship to Oberlin College in Ohio. There, he received bachelor's degrees in political science and communications. Green later attended the University of Michigan, where he received a master's degree in public policy. From there, Green worked in the state economic development office under then-Gov. Jim Blanchard and was hired as an economic adviser for then-Gov. John Engler. Green has been a chief deputy director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, served as a national director of supplier diversity at NBC TV and was on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's minority business team. Six years ago, Green joined the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council. In the past four years, it has twice won the Council of the Year award. The privately funded nonprofit is one of 37 Minority Supplier Development affiliates in the country. The organization offers programs and services for its corporate members and minority-owned business owners, as well as networking opportunities. Each year, the 1,500-member organization facilitates more than $16 billion in purchases from minority businesses. "The thing I like most is we get to make a connection with talented business owners and help them make their dream a reality," Green said. Focused and flexible Mable Jones, public affairs director for AAA Michigan, said she nominated Green for the award because of his ability to stay focused and flexible, come up with strategic plans and advocate for the membership. "Mr. Green works with our program, and I got to observe his behavior and I was very impressed," said Jones, who also nominated him last year. Jones said Green offers encouragement and often works quietly behind the scenes. "He knows how to work cooperatively," she said. Green acknowledged he believes in working behind the scenes to make things happen. He said he thinks the connections in his organization happen because he and his staff try to reach out to the members and corporations. Helen Ford, director of supplier diversity with AAA Michigan, said Green's ability and dedication to connecting members and corporations from the eastern and western parts of the state makes him essential to building economic growth. Last year, the council was part of a group that put on a job fair for 5,000 people. And although that's not what the organization typically does, Green said the event helped build more connections. "I never believe in staying in my lane," Green said. Read more at www.freep.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1c1dn

How to Take Advantage of National Small Business Week & Tips for Time Management

Hey, Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/diversebusiness
and join our Facebook page and get FREE audio book!

It's PAST time to leverage the internet to build and brand your business. We can show you how!




Most entrepreneurs know what to do, they just need more time to do it! Here's an article I found that can help everyone struggling with "too much to do" syndrome.

Top 7 Time Management Tips

Manage your time and use it wisely, it is a journey and not something that can be easily mastered overnight. Implementing a plan will help, but it is not going to be a definite cure. Time management requires a significant amount of self-discipline.

Here are some tips to assist you with time management.

1. Set Goals

Set both short-term and long-term goals for your work per day, work per week, and work per year. It may seem to take the time to make a difference by written list of your goals, which will allow you to refer back to the list when you need some guidance. Keep in mind that it is good to adjust the goals as your business needs or your role changes. use them as tools to guide you.

2. Mini-Rewards

All work and no play is a difficult concept to sustain for very long. Build rewards into your schedule. If there is a task you really dislike, follow it with a task that you greatly enjoy. Build "mini-rewards" into your schedule to increase your productivity.

3. Keep Lists

Keep a running "To Do" list. The To Do list should contain both daily tasks as well as longer-term tasks. Having a To do list will help keep your attention on the projects that require attention, and prevent some items from slipping through the cracks and being forgotten.

4. Be Realistic

Keep your expectations realistic. No one can do everything, Keep that it mind, try to set realistic expectations of what you can hope to accomplish.

5. Prioritize

Prioritize the list of things to do. Some items might require immediate attention, while others may be necessary but not that urgent. After prioritizing, try not to become a "firefighter" and only react to the urgent items. Be sure to still give proper attention to non-urgent items as well, as they are important too.

6. Use Time Wisely

If there are blocks of time that you spend waiting or commuting, figure out ways to use that time being productive! Listening to podcasts, reading, writing, proof-reading, reviewing your schedule, planning for your next activity, etc, are all things that can usually be done remotely to fill in some of the unavoidable "dead" time in your schedule. Try to find interesting and unusual productive things to do during those periods of downtime.

7. Set limits

Set reasonable time limits for tasks. When working on those tasks, monitor the time that each task is taking.

Habilis (http://www.ihabilis.com/) provide Lifestyle Management and Virtual Assistants to help you stay shipshape at all times. Making appointments, booking flights, even sending out flowers - we do all this and more. Or, you could use us for your work side of things (think presentations, competitor analysis, web research).

Source: http://Top7Business.com/?expert=Janice_Taylor

Minority Business, Max Fisher Theatre, Rhonda Walker, Corporate and Minority Award Winners

The Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC) will host over 700 minority business owners and the nation’s top corporate executives will be present to celebrate the stars that made $12 billion in contract opportunities possible for the members of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC). This Awards Show and Strolling Dinner will take place at the Max Fisher Music Center in Detroit, Michigan starting at 5PM.

The mistress of ceremonies for the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Awards Event is Rhonda Walker, morning anchor on local NBC Affiliate (WDIV Detroit - pictured above)

Google AdWords Explained Simply

PPC Services Will Help Your business & Search Engine Marketing - Click the Diverse Business show link and hear how.. click here

Listen to internet radio with Diverse Business on Blog Talk Radio

Put simply, Google AdWords is a way of advertising on the internet to get people to come and look at what you are trying to sell or even just to promote the information you have on your website. It is a form of pay per click (PPC) advertising. A lot of people use Google AdWords campaigns in their affiliate marketing or internet marketing campaigns as part of a wider marketing strategy.

The basics are that you set up an ad with Google and you pay whenever anyone clicks on that ad. The amount you pay depends on how much you have bid for each keyword that you nominate as relevant to your ad. You only pay when your advert is clicked on. The ads are either shown in the Google search engine or as contextual ads within websites that have subscribed to Google AdSense.

Put simply, the more you pay them for a particular keyword phrase, the higher up in the listing your ad gets every time someone searches. Of course there is more to it than that but here we are going to get into the basics and the key facts about Google AdWords.

Google AdWords Interface

So, once you have created a Google AdWords account, there are four main areas you need to focus on: Campaigns, Ad Groups, Ads and Keywords. Each one of these sits inside the other with the Campaigns being at the top of the tree.

Campaigns

Within campaigns you can have a number of ads all pointing to different places with possibly nothing to do with each other. Campaigns are there to group these ads within a certain set of restrictions. For example you may have a group of ads that you want to target to a certain location with a target language. Campaigns is also where you set your budget for all of the ads under that campaign. So, for example, if you have a group of ads that you don't want to spend more than $20 a day on for them all and you want them all to be aimed at North America but at English or Spanish speakers, then you could keep them all under one campaign.

Ad Groups and Ads

Under the Ad Groups section you can have as many ads as you like but all of these ads must be pointing to the same website. So, each Ad Group is for a particular website you are promoting. In internet marketing it is a good idea to create a few different ads for each website so that you can see which ads are doing best at getting your target market to visit. Keep trying new ideas with ads until you come up with the right formula.

Keywords

These really are the crux of the whole matter. A keyword is basically the word or phrase that you want someone to type in to the search engine and for your ad to appear. Now much more popular words or phrases will involve a much larger cost for you to get near the top of the search results. So you need to decide how much you are willing to spend on your marketing campaign to get near the top. If you are on a tight budget then you need to come up with some less common words or phrases (but obviously ones that people will still search for) that you will not need to pay so much for to appear near the top of the search results. For example "depression" would need a much higher bid to get on the top of the search results than "how to treat mild depression". So keep this kind of thing in mind when looking for keywords that match your site.

Make sure you choose a large number of keywords that relate to your site and your advert so that you can see which keywords perform best and which ones may not be relevant - i.e. they may have a large number of impressions but no clicks. You should start by trying to find around 300-500 keywords for your campaign and keep monitoring them to see what is working.

Cost

You need to monitor the cost of each click, the level of sales from each 100 clicks and compare these figures to the profit that you make on each sale. For example if you make a sale once in about every 100 clicks then you need to ensure that your profit on the product you are selling is less than 100 times the cost of the click. So if you are bidding $1 on a keyword and your profit on each sale is $50 then the PPC campaign is costing you twice as much as your profit ($100 for 100 clicks = 1 sale) so you need to make sure that your keywords are relevant, the CPC (cost per click) is lower, perhaps by choosing longer keywords, or that you make more sales!

Summary

So, in summary, to set up your internet marketing with Google AdWords, first, split up your campaigns according to where you want the ads to appear, in what language and your budget for that group of ads. Then create Ad groups for each website you wish to promote. Create a few ads for each site to see which works best in your market. Add relevant keywords to your ads (note that the keywords must be relevant or your ads will not show) and set your budget for your keywords.

To get more information on affiliate and internet marketing check out my affiliate marketing website or my affiliate marketing blog. www.Twitter.com/DiverseBusiness

Also visit: http://www.facebook.com/diversebusiness

'Rising Above a Dynamic Economy' - Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council Annual Event

Annual Michigan Minority Procurement Conference, May 4-6 Cobo Center

(pictured left to right-: Dr. Melvin Gravely & President/CEO, Louis Green)

Detroit -- While most focus on the challenges facing Michigan's economic future, there are a group of 1,200 businesses that are focused on results and excited about the tremendous opportunities ahead. That is the message of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council's (MMSDC) 29th annual Michigan Minority Procurement Conference, May 4-6, Cobo Conference Center. This is the largest minority business enterprise (MBE) trade fair of its type in the nation, bringing together diverse suppliers and major corporations from several industries.

Themed "Rising Above A Dynamic Economy," Tuesday, May 4 is registration and set up and Wednesday, May 5 features professional development seminars with leading business experts and nationally renowned speakers including: best-selling author David McNally; Nipa Shah, Jeneys Group; David Boonie, Verizon; Ann M. Harten, Haworth; Sidney Johnson, Delphi; Anthony Tomczak, DTE Energy; and Allan K. Lund, UHY Advisors Michigan.

Thursday's schedule begins with an 8:45 a.m. ribbon-cutting to open the trade fair in Cobo's Wayne Hall. Cutting the ribbon will be Tony Brown, MMBDC Chairman of the Board, Group Vice President, Global Purchasing, Ford Motor Company; Robert Ficano, Wayne County Executive; Fred Hegan, Takata Senior Vice-President, and MMSDC officials. The trade fair opens at 9 a.m. in conjunction with the presentation of a plan to help move Michigan's economy forward.

From noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 6 is a Power Lunch with Dr. Melvin Gravely, founder of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking, the leading think tank on issues related to minority business development. The Power Lunch is sponsored by Ford Motor Company.

This conference is the platform for minority businesses and corporations to create opportunities for economic growth and to collectively "Rise Above a Dynamic Economy." The professional development sessions and trade fair will help open new doors of opportunity for minority businesses trying to navigate the rapid changes. "The conference will serve as the voice for our minority business owners, the billions of dollars they contribute to our communities and the 200,000 employees that depend on them. "Not only are these businesses important to Michigan's economy, but they represent the hope of thousands of families," according to Louis Green, President and CEO of the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council.

Takata is the official conference and trade fair sponsor. Other event sponsors include General Motors, Honda, Toyota and DTE. Complete two-day registration is $300 and includes admission for one to the opening session, participation in the professional development sessions, power lunch, trade fair and afterglow. For more information call (313) 873-3200.

About MMSDC

Founded in Detroit in 1977, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (formerly known as the Michigan Minority Business Development Council) has more than 1,200 certified minority businesses and over 300 corporate members working to further its mission to certify minority businesses; provide access to procurement opportunities; and develop capacity for minority business development. MMSDC is a 501(c) (3) organization. Proceeds from this event support MMSDC programs and services and are tax deductible.

The MMSDC is nationally recognized for its work with major corporations to promote minority business development and growth. MMSDC also operates one of the Minority Business Enterprise Centers (MBEC) funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce. MBEC provides rapid growth-potential minority businesses the "keys to entrepreneurial success" through access to markets, capital and strategic consulting. Visit the MMSDC's web site to learn more about these programs and services at www.MMBDC.com.

SOURCE Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council

Back to top RELATED LINKS
http://www.mmbdc.com
http://www.facebook.com/diversebusiness
http://www.youtube.com/diversebusiness
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/diversebusiness