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Earvin 'Magic' Johnson Tells Minority Owners to Idolize Your Hometown Business Heros

October 06, 2004

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

 
 

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