Black Enterprise Names GM Company of the Year with its Supplier and Dealer Awards

images_general-motors-buildingIt’s extremely rare for one company to snag both dealer and supplier of the year awards from Black Enterprise Magazine. But just as GM had its victory sweep at the North American International Auto Show, it recently pulled another show stopper at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, where two of GM’s distinguished suppliers and dealers set a new gold standard for black automotive business.
“We are absolutely thrilled that GM set another industry first by garnering these two awards, and for two outstanding companies who are leaders in their perspective segments, and who also give back to the community in a tangible way,” said Ken Barrett, GM’s global chief diversity officer
Leon Richardson, of ChemicoMays, was named supplier of the year; and Pamela Rodgers, of Rodgers Chevrolet, was named dealer of the year. Both individuals were selected based on their customer service quality, innovative marketing and business operations, and consistent substantial sales growth.

Big Risk Leads to Big Rewards
Like many women dealers, Rodgers has faced her fair share of challenges, in what is still a male dominated field today. Her journey began in the 1980s, when she learned of GM’s minority dealer program at an industry event. GM is the first OEM to introduce a minority dealer program which was instituted to help diversify the dealer landscape and to better serve minority communities.

By all accounts, Rodgers’ move from corporate life, where she worked as an up and coming financial analyst for Ford Motor Company, to the dealer showroom didn’t make much business sense. But she felt compelled to take a career risk after learning about the relatively low investment capital needed to enlist in GM’s minority dealer program, which was about $70,000 at the time.
“To me, it was a good deal. Where else could you go with that kind of money and learn about the business, get one-on-one coaching, and have GM to invest with you until you could buy them out through your profits. It was a win-win,” she said.
Her big test of endurance came during GM’s bankruptcy years where her dealership’s revenues were slashed in half. Not only that, GM had begun to consolidate its dealer footprint. That’s when Rodgers got creative with her marketing and immersed herself into the community.
“Because Detroit is home to General Motors, you have a lot of mega dealers who have multiple stores,” said Eric Peterson, vice president, Diversity Dealer Relations. “Pam has one store and she competes with them on a daily basis, toe-to-toe, and does very well.”
Today, nearly 5 percent of GM’s dealers are owned by minorities, and five percent are owned by women, which is still industry leading. Astonishingly, Rodgers Chevrolet, located in Woodhaven, Mich., has experienced incredible sales growth, jumping from $14 million in sales to $80 million.

Making Success Happen on His Own Terms
Richardson’s success story is a little different, but equally as inspiring. He’s turned his company, ChemicoMays, into a global enterprise that serves as a model and support link for other minority suppliers looking to do business with General Motors.

Based in Southfield, Mich., ChemicoMays manufactures nonhazardous paint stripping products that are used throughout GM’s paint shop operations.
How Richardson became an entrepreneur is nothing short of inspiring. After serving in the Marine Corps for eight years, he became a salesman in the 80s for a chemical management company. The owner at the time didn’t provide much support for Richardson. In fact, the owner instituted policies that implicitly held Richardson back from climbing up through the ranks of the company being that he was the number one sales person, and the only African American.

Those challenges motivated him to start his own company Chemico Systems.
“When we started our company in 1989, we had a clearly defined mission statement,” said Richardson. “It said that we would add value to our customer supply chain, we would add value to the lives of our employees, and we would add value to the communities in which we operate. And to this day, evidenced by the ‘Supplier of the Year’ award from General Motors for five consecutive years, and ‘Supplier of the Year’ award from Toyota, along with several other major organizations pretty much tells me we accomplished what we set out to do.”

“When you look at the number of African American auto dealers and suppliers, GM has (partnered) with the primary drivers of African American business,” said Derrick Dingle, sr. vice president, editor-in-chief, Black Enterprise. “The impact has a ripple effect because these companies in turn contract with other African American suppliers. And for GM to have that association, it has enabled us to strengthen the African American middle class and to create an entrepreneurial class that will impact the nation and the globe.”
You can read Rodgers’ and Richardson’s story in the June issue of Black Enterprise Magazine.

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