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Mitsubishi's Young Entrepreneurs Program Honors Its First Graduates

2 July 1998

Mitsubishi Motors Young Entrepreneurs Program For Minority Students Honors Its First Graduates

        Students Complete Summer Institute at Clark Atlanta University
                 and Now Begin Mentoring Phase of the Program

    ATLANTA, July 1 -- Mitsubishi Motors, the United Negro
College Fund (UNCF) and Clark Atlanta University celebrated the first
graduates of the Mitsubishi Motors Young Entrepreneurs Program today during a
banquet honoring the 20 minority students who successfully completed the first
phase of the program -- the Summer Institute.  Odis Reid, vice president,
franchise development for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. (MMSA),
presented each graduate with a $5,000 scholarship certificate in recognition
of their accomplishment.
    "These talented and motivated students are already proving the Young
Entrepreneurs Program to be a sound investment," said Reid.  "It is our goal
that these students will become successful entrepreneurs in the automotive and
other industries, paving the way for minority students after them to pursue
entrepreneurial professions."
    For the past five weeks, each student attending the Summer Institute at
the Clark Atlanta School of Business has learned crucial entrepreneurial
skills covering such areas as business planning, finance, marketing,
liability/tax issues and technology.  Classroom instruction was lead by guest
speakers from various disciplines and supplemented by field trips to business
and technology centers, as well as Mitsubishi Motors dealerships.
    In June 1999, five students will be chosen as Mitsubishi Motors Fellows
and have the opportunity to spend one year in specialized training at either
the NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association) dealer academy, MMSA's
corporate headquarters or one of the company's regional offices.
    "When the students complete the mentoring phase of the program, they will
have the superior skills and training to pursue entrepreneurial career paths,"
said Virgil Ecton, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer
for UNCF.  "This is a first-class program that has all the elements to produce
the minority business leaders of tomorrow."
    UNCF received 5,000 requests for Young Entrepreneurs Program applications,
generating more than 200 qualified candidates for the class of 1998.  In order
to be eligible, applicants must be a registered student at one of the UNCF
universities or Hispanic Associated Colleges or Universities (HACU).  A review
board of representatives from Mitsubishi Motors, UNCF and the Clark Atlanta
University Business School was used to select students based on grade point
average, references, work experience and an essay in which applicants
explained their interest in the program.  The application period for the 1999
Young Entrepreneurs Program will begin in November 1998.
    The Young Entrepreneurs Program is one of several diversity initiatives
Mitsubishi Motors is undertaking in an effort to improve the diversity of its
company and dealers to more accurately reflect its customers and the
communities it serves.  Additional initiatives include a market investment
program that provides financial assistance to qualified candidates, including
women and minorities, to open and own Mitsubishi Motors dealerships, as well
as a partnership with the NADA that provides extensive training for women and
minorities who are already in the automotive business.
    Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. was established in 1982 by
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Tokyo, and markets a full line of vehicles,
including coupes, convertibles, sedans and sport utility vehicles.
    Clark Atlanta University is the largest of the United Negro College Fund
institutions and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's, specialist
and doctoral degrees.  In Money magazine's 1998 survey of 1,115 colleges,
Clark Atlanta was ranked among the top five historically black institutions,
based on such factors as class size and graduation rates.  Essence magazine,
February 1998, listed Clark Atlanta University among the top five "Best Black
College Buys."
    The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the nation's oldest and most
successful African American higher education assistance organization.  It is a
consortium of 39 private, historically black colleges and universities.  The
College Fund currently administers more than 400 educational programs that
give students access to high education, provide career opportunity, and
strengthen its member institutions.  To date, more than 300,000 men and women
have graduated from UNCF colleges and universities.