Earvin 'Magic' Johnson Tells Minority Business Owners to Idolize Your Hometown
Business Hero, Not the Jump Shot
DETROIT, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The 21st Annual Michigan Minority
Business Development Council's Awards Dinner, held October 5 at Cobo
Hall, hosted more than 2,500 of Michigan's business leaders for
local and global companies engaged in the business of building
wealth in minority communities.
Keynote speaker Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who oversees Magic Johnson
Enterprises, doled out advice about his transition from professional
basketball star to CEO.
"There is someone in
this audience who I idolized as a kid. I wanted to copy his jump
shot. But the real reason he became my idol is because he showed me
that I didn't have to just be a professional basketball player
forever. I could break out of that box and be a successful
businessman too. That person is Dave Bing."
Johnson went on to advise business
owners that the real heroes are the ordinary men and women in their
neighborhoods who are building business, overcoming obstacles and
recycling that money into other minority businesses and into their
communities to build wealth among minority
people.
Johnson says these insights have
allowed him to grow his wealth, controlling over $1 billion in real
estate and employing 15,000 people in 70 cities. Magic Johnson
Enterprises includes Johnson Development Corporation, Magic Johnson
Theatres, Magic Johnson All-Star Camps, Magic Johnson T's and Magic
Johnson Entertainment
To corporate
buyers, Johnson said, "Believe in minority businesses because they
can get the job done. Minorities have tremendous buying power. Your
growth is in urban America and in
minorities."
Tony Brown, senior
vice president, global purchasing for Ford Motor Company and
chairman of the board for the Michigan Minority Business Development
Council (MMBDC), also spoke of 'building wealth' among minority
communities as the mark of a successful supplier diversity program.
Said Brown, "You see, when I'm asked
what MMBDC does, I say, 'We create wealth in communities.' And you
might say, 'Wait a minute, you're here for my business' ... and
you're right. But we are here for your business with a purpose. That
purpose is to use your business, and businesses like yours, and
businesses that deal with you, as a conduit to place wealth in, and
empower, communities where wealth and power have been strangers for
far too long.
Johnathan Line of Ford
Motor Company won the Corporate Buyer of the Year Award, presented
to an individual directly responsible for purchasing activity and
consistently including certified minority suppliers in the bid
process; demonstrating growth in actual spend with minority business
enterprises and advancing the cause of supplier diversity and
minority economic development.
The
MMBDC Corporation of the Year: OEM category was awarded to General
Motors. In 2003, General Motors spent $7.2 billion with minority
suppliers, an increase of more than $1 billion in spending over
2002. Corporation of the Year, awarded in eight industries,
recognizes a corporation who actively includes minority suppliers in
their procurement opportunities, assists in the development of
minority suppliers; promotes supplier diversity and business
development within their corporation and to their vendors, other
businesses and organizations.
Bo
Andersson, GM Vice President of Worldwide Purchasing, Production
Control and Logistics, said, "The MMBDC honor is exceptional because
GM is being recognized as a leader in mentoring and growing minority
suppliers." He went on to say, "For GM, being the best means having
a minority supply base that can perform well, even in a challenging
market."
Building on the challenges the
economic environment has created for minority owned businesses, E.
Delbert Gray, president and CEO of the MMBDC, said, "Minority
businesses have to come together to compete. Today, we're strongly
encouraging joint ventures and we're encouraging minority businesses
to buy from other minority businesses. We are driving our corporate
members to mentor minority suppliers so they can build their
capabilities and be part of the solution. And we're recognizing
those who are making outstanding efforts to drive wealth into those
businesses who in turn drive it into their communities. It's those
minority communities who return with the earnings to buy the
products and services our corporate members offer."
The Diamond Award, which recognizes a
minority business owner who exemplifies the spirit of minority
entrepreneurs conducting business with other minority business
enterprises, was awarded to Roderick Rickman of the MPS
Group.
Awards and Winners Included:
Award
Winner
Corporation of the Year
*OEM General Motors Corporation
*Education Michigan State University
*Finance Comerica Incorporated
*Industrial Purchasing
Tier I Johnson Controls, Inc.
*Commercial Products Robert Bosch Corporation
*Construction Walbridge
Aldinger Company
*Health care Henry Ford Health Systems
*Professional/Commercial
Services MGM
Grand Detroit, L.L.C.
Corporate Minority
Business Margaret
Hails, Advocate of
the
Year DaimlerChrysler Corporation
Minority Supplier of the Year
*Class I (<$1
Million)
Cam-Tre Innovations
*Class II ($1 M -
$10M) Chemico
Systems
*Class III ($10M -
$30M)
Roy Smith Company
*Class IV ($30 M
plus)
The Ideal Group
Diamond
Award
Roderick Rickman, MPS Group
Corporate Buyer of the Year Johnathan Line, Ford Motor Company
Source: PRNewswire