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Toyota Minority-Owned Business Forum Draws 1,400

11 November 1999

Toyota Minority-Owned Business Forum Draws 1,400; Keynote Speaker Tavis Smiley Inspires Leadership, Innovation

    CINCINNATI, Nov. 10 -- Representatives from hundreds of
Toyota suppliers and 600 minority-owned businesses across the country are
gathering today in downtown Cincinnati as Toyota hosts its 10th Annual
Opportunity Exchange conference and trade fair.  The nationally recognized
forum is designed to provide minority business enterprises (MBEs) the chance
to network and develop relationships with some of the automaker's largest
suppliers (Tier I).
    Toyota's Tier I suppliers, those who provide parts, materials and services
directly to Toyota, attend the trade fair annually as exhibitors for the
purpose of doing more business with minority-owned companies.  Since the first
Opportunity Exchange in 1990, the event has grown from 100 participants and
$350,000 in Tier I-MBE contracts to more than 1,000 participants and in excess
of $20 million in Tier I-MBE contracts through 1998.  This year, more than
1,400 participants are attending the one-day forum.
    "Creating opportunities that open doors for minority business development
are among the top priorities of Toyota's diversity initiatives," said Teruyuki
Minoura, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc.  "First
and foremost, Toyota is a company that thrives on new ideas from our
suppliers, and more diversity leads to more ideas.  And second, our customer
base is diverse, and we think our way of doing business should reflect that."
    Businesses such as Jackson Plastics, a minority-owned company based in
Nicholasville, Ky., and Florida Production Engineering of Dayton, Ohio, have
been attending Toyota's Opportunity Exchange for several years and both have
found it a valuable networking tool for becoming an integral part of Toyota's
supplier base.  "I've been attending Toyota's minority business event as a
Tier II supplier providing parts and materials to Tier I suppliers for many
years," said Henry Jackson, president of Jackson Plastics.  "My business has
grown by leaps and bounds, so much so that I will soon be a Tier I supplier
for Toyota."
    Even companies representing the Tier I suppliers recognize the value such
a forum brings to both the Tier I and MBE suppliers.  "Actions speak louder
than words," said Tom Smith, a Native American who owns Tom Smith Industries
near Dayton, Ohio, a long-time supplier of plastic injection molded parts for
Toyota vehicles.  "You can promise to do business, or you can do business.
Toyota does business for the long term and with an emphasis on relationship
building."
    At this year's conference, Black Entertainment Television host Tavis
Smiley is delivering the keynote address at the conference luncheon.  He is
also offering tips on effective leadership techniques to 30 area high school
students from leadership programs affiliated with the Urban League of Greater
Cincinnati.
    Toyota also is making a $10,000 donation to The Tavis Smiley Foundation in
support of Smiley's Youth 2000 Leaders program, a series of youth leadership
workshops designed to enlighten, encourage and empower young people across the
nation.  "I am personally committed to building a better tomorrow for
America's youth," Smiley said. "The generous support of companies like Toyota
is vital to inspiring this nation's bright young leaders."
    This year's Opportunity Exchange also gives Toyota a chance to reaffirm
its commitment to increase minority supplier purchasing to 5 percent for
Tier I and 5 percent for Tier II by the year 2002.  "We have made good
progress toward our target set forth in 1997," said Minoura.  "But reaching
those goals starts with building relationships, and that's why Opportunity
Exchange is so important.  This event gives us a great chance to introduce
minority suppliers to Toyota's largest suppliers, and that often leads to more
business for those minority companies."
    Toyota has steadily increased its local production and procurement since
it began making automobiles in North America in 1984.  With the annual
capacity to produce more than 1.2 million vehicles, the company's overall
spending with North American suppliers has grown to $8.3 billion a year.
Toyota purchases from more than 500 U.S. suppliers.
    Overall, Toyota expenditures with minority-owned firms have grown
dramatically as well.  Toyota now does business with nearly 100 minority-owned
companies.
    Toyota employs more than 25,000 people in North America and has
manufacturing plants in Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, California, Missouri
and Canada.  The company's current North American-built vehicles include the
Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Sienna, Solara, Tacoma and Tundra.  A new, full-size
sport utility vehicle, the Sequoia, will join Toyota's product lineup next
year.