The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

DaimlerChrysler Financial Services and the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation Announce Judges for 2007 Entrepreneurial Award

* Distinguished independent panel includes Tanisha Sykes of Black Enterprise magazine, Business Reporter Sheryl Nance Nash and Ken Smikle of Target Market News

* Winning NNPA-member publication receives $10,000 for entrepreneurial accomplishments in publishing

* Deadline for entries is February 14, 2007

* Award ceremony is in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 2007

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Feb. 2 -- Journalists affiliated with some of the nation's leading media organizations will grace the panel of judges for the 2007 DaimlerChrysler Financial Services/National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Foundation Entrepreneurial Award -- an award designed to celebrate the entrepreneurial and community-minded spirit of the Black Press.

This year's distinguished panel of independent judges include Tanisha Sykes, Consumer Affairs Editor of Black Enterprise magazine; freelance business reporter Sheryl Nance Nash who has contributed to the New York Times and Money magazine and Ken Smikle, publisher of Target Market News. Kevin McCormick, Manager of Diversity and Human Resources Communications for the Chrysler Group and Stephan Koller, Senior Manager of Corporate Communications and Public Relations for DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas round out the five-member panel.

"We are pleased to recognize NNPA-member publications for the creative ways they succeed in the highly competitive industry of newspaper publishing," said Klaus Entenmann, President and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC. "Our panel of independent judges will carefully evaluate various newspaper campaigns and their effects on each publication's business and community."

Now in its third year, the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services/NNPA Foundation Entrepreneurial Award is designed to encourage NNPA-member publications to seek alternative and innovative ways to promote and build their publication's business, while demonstrating an entrepreneurial and community-minded spirit. DaimlerChrysler Financial Services has committed $35,000 over three years in cash prizes alone to establish the award, which provides $10,000 to the winning publication and $2,500 to the publication named as an Honorable Mention. The winners will be announced at the NNPA Newsmaker Awards Dinner, which will be held on Thursday, March 15, 2007, as part of the National Newspaper Publishers Association's Annual Black Press Week in Washington, D.C.

In addition to the cash award, the grand prize winner will receive an originally-designed sculpture commissioned especially for the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services/NNPA Foundation Entrepreneurial Award, travel and accommodations to Black Press Week in Washington, D.C. and the use of a DaimlerChrysler-brand vehicle for a week.

The Honorable Mention Winner will receive a $2,500 cash prize as well as a plaque and travel and accommodations to Washington, D.C. for Black Press Week.

Past winners of the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services/NNPA Foundation Entrepreneurial Award include Dr. Donald Suggs, publisher of the St. Louis American (2005), and Raymond H. Boone, Sr., publisher of the Richmond Free Press (2006). Mason McCullough, publisher of The County News in North Carolina received the Honorable Mention award (2006).

The DaimlerChrysler Financial Services/NNPA Foundation Entrepreneurial Award is open to all NNPA-member publications. Interested NNPA-member publications may download copies of the official rules and entry form online at http://www.nnpa.org/ or by visiting the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services contest Web site at http://www.daimlerchryslerfinancialservices.com/NNPA. Deadline for entries is Wednesday, February 14, 2007. The winners will be notified by Wednesday, February 28, 2007.

  Entries should be delivered or mailed to:

                    DaimlerChrysler Financial Services
            NNPA Foundation Entrepreneurial Award Competition
                            13 Knodishall Way
                            Hampton, VA 23664

  About DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC

DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC provides brand-specific financing for automotive dealers' inventories and their retail consumers, and conducts business as Chrysler Financial and Mercedes-Benz Financial. As DaimlerChrysler Truck Financial, it also finances commercial vehicles for affiliate products such as Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star. The company serves as the headquarters for operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, and has approximately 5,600 employees who manage a portfolio of more than $104 billion with nearly five million contracts. DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas LLC is a company of the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Group, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, which operates in more than 40 countries with an employee base of close to 11,000 and a global portfolio of approximately $144 billion. DaimlerChrysler Financial Services is one of the leading financial services organizations worldwide.