CINCINNATI, Oct. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Kevin Shurn
operated his business from a two-bedroom apartment when he attended
Toyota's first-ever Opportunity Exchange in 1990. Three years
later, he secured his first contract, providing janitorial services
to Toyota's Georgetown, Ky.,
plant. Today, his Elizabethtown,
Ky.-based Superior Maintenance Co. has more than 500
employees, serving Toyota manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, Indiana and Texas.
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"No one goes to the extent that Toyota does to help minority and
women-owned businesses," said Shurn, now a Tier I-level supplier.
"Just as Toyota expects you as a supplier to meet quality, cost,
safety and delivery expectations, it has an expectation – not only
a target but an expectation – for their Tier I suppliers to work
with minority and women-owned businesses."
It is a formula that has proven successful: now in its
25th year, Toyota's annual Opportunity Exchange (OE) has
resulted in more than $250 million in
contracts for M/WBEs like Shurn's.
The two-day event – which included best-practice seminars, panel
discussions and a trade show – concluded Tuesday, Oct. 28, at the Duke Energy Convention
Center in downtown Cincinnati.
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA)
started OE with about 100 attendees, and it has grown to become one
of the largest minority business events in the country – attracting
nearly 2,000 people who attend the event free of charge.
One of those is Rosa Santana.
Recently, Toyota announced her newest company – Forma Automotive
LLC – as its first Hispanic woman-owned direct supplier. Beginning
in 2015, Forma Automotive will assemble Tacoma truck beds at Toyota
Motor Manufacturing, Texas
(TMMTX). Her business success story also began at Opportunity
Exchange.
"Had I not participated in OE, my company would not have been
known the way it is by Toyota, and we would not have been offered
this great opportunity," said Santana, who began attending
Opportunity Exchange in 2005.
To show how OE works, Santana met Shurn at the 2005 event, which
resulted in a chance to provide maintenance and janitorial services
to TMMTX. Superior Maintenance contracted with Santana's original
staffing company, Integrated Human Capital, to provide workers for
that operation; since then, IHC has provided staffing, recruitment
and direct-placement services to an additional 17 suppliers at that
site.
"Twenty-five years ago we saw the need to put our commitment to
diversity into action – to make it real, to reflect an example for
our team, for our community and for our suppliers," said
Gene Tabor, general manager of
purchasing for TEMA. "I believe Toyota's commitment leaves our own
company, our Tier I suppliers and especially our M/WBEs in a better
situation.
"We have examples too numerous to mention. It starts with an
introduction, and can lead to a thriving business opportunity."
Toyota has a 5 percent goal for Tier I supplier spending with
minority business enterprises in North
America, and, at last year's event, a new 2 percent goal for
purchases of goods and services from women-owned businesses was
announced. Toyota buys from 500 suppliers across North America, which results in $27 billion worth of purchases annually.
"I think the WBE spending goal is a positive for women," said
Linda Torakis, president of
McKechnie Vehicle Components, headquartered in Roseville, Mich. "This is still a
male-dominated industry and I think it's great to encourage
suppliers to look at women-owned businesses. Just providing the
opportunity for us to be out there and to open the door is a great
thing. We can compete on our own merits."
Torakis began attending Opportunity Exchange in 2008, just after
she and her husband had purchased McKechnie – which was on the
verge of collapse. In 2010, McKechnie began talks with OE attendee
Murakami Manufacturing USA Inc.,
which produces exterior mirrors for Toyota. This year, McKechnie
secured a $1.2 million contract to
supply chrome trim to Murakami for the Lexus RX350. McKechnie also
connected with Tokai Rika at OE, resulting in more than
$1 million for production of
chrome-plated parts for the Ford Mustang and Fusion this year, and,
in 2015, for the Nissan Maxima.
Tier I suppliers see a distinct value in partnering with smaller
minority-owned firms.
Larry Crawford, chairman and CEO
of Diversity-Vuteq LLC, is a Tier I supplier who has attended OE
for nearly 15 years. "At an event like this we are always looking
because people come up with innovative ideas," Crawford said.
"What's discounted a lot is that minority companies have to be
really innovative just to survive because usually they're small in
scope and face enormous challenges, so sometimes they come up with
things the big companies haven't thought of and better ways of
doing them."
Over the course of more than two decades, Opportunity
Exchange has helped generate new business for M/WBEs and continues
to help direct suppliers diversify their own supply base. These
partnerships help add value and innovation to Toyota's products and
services. For more information about Toyota's supplier diversity
program, please visit www.toyotasupplier.com. Additional
information can be found at www.toyotaopportunityexchange.com, on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/ToyotaOE and Twitter,
www.twitter.com/ToyotaOE.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE: TM), the world's top automaker and creator of the
Prius, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live
through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands.
Over the past 50 years, we have built more than 25 million
cars and trucks in North America,
where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and
directly employ more than 40,000 people (more than 32,000 in the
U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the
U.S.) sold more than 2.5 million cars and trucks (more than 2.2
million in the U.S.) in 2013 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota
vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road
today.
Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the
country, with a focus on education, safety and the
environment. As part of this commitment, we share the
company's extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and
trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand
their ability to do good. For more information about Toyota,
visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
Contacts:
Mike
Triebsch (502) 693-5975
Danielle Waller (502) 974-4021
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SOURCE Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North
America