AUBURN HILLS,
Mich., Feb. 11, 2020
/PRNewswire/ -- The Michigan Minority Supplier Development
Council (MMSDC) named FCA North America Head of Purchasing and
Supply Chain Management Scott Thiele as Chairman of the Board for
the next two years, leading the group's efforts to advance
opportunities for minority-owned businesses. He replaces DTE Chief
Procurement Officer Tony
Tomczak.
"Our commitment to diversity and inclusion at FCA
extends far beyond our walls," said Scott
Thiele, Head of Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, FCA
- North America. "I'm proud to
serve the MMSDC as they continue supporting minority business
owners in creative ways. Diversity drives innovation and innovation
drives growth for all of us. I am excited about this opportunity to
contribute to the future success of minority suppliers and our
communities."
Growing Supplier Diversity Together: FCA and
MMSDC
FCA recently joined a partnership formed between MMSDC and Plug and
Play, the largest global innovation platform for startups and
corporations, to bring a new innovation hub to Detroit by June
2020. Plug and Play Detroit Powered by AmplifyD
(Amplify:Diversity) will provide streamlined access to all
technology startups, with an emphasis on those owned by women and
minorities. The partnership underpins FCA's approach to the rapid
advancement of select technologies through smart and strategic
collaborations that promote a culture of innovation and
safety.
In 2019, FCA and MMSDC also launched the
Collaborative Growth Initiative, which includes nine automakers and
suppliers working together with 18 minority-owned businesses to
define, measure and facilitate sustainable sourcing opportunities
in the indirect/non-production commodity space. The goal is to
ensure strategic business growth.
"Over the past two years, Scott has served as
Vice Chair of our organization and I'm sincerely excited to have
such an action-oriented, knowledgeable leader at the helm of our
organization during a significant time of growth and opportunity,"
said Michelle Sourie Robinson,
President/CEO of MMSDC. "Scott is decisive, smart and forward
thinking. He's not afraid to step outside the box, which is
critical as we experience and embrace a season of exponential
growth."
Supplier Diversity at FCA
Since 1983, the Company has purchased more than $88.2 billion from minority-, women- and
veteran-owned suppliers. In 2019, FCA was honored with the
following award for the Company's innovative approaches and
programs to expand opportunities for diverse suppliers:
- Corporation of the Year for 2018, Class 4 from the National
Minority Supplier Development Council
- Best-in-Class for Excellence in Supplier Diversity from the
Great Lakes Women Business Council
- Benchmark Award from Rainbow PUSH
- President's Award from the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority
Supplier Council
- America's Top Corporation for Women's Business Enterprises from
the Women's Business Enterprise National Council
The Company celebrated the 20th annual MatchMaker event through
a series of high-impact engagements with more than 250 diverse
businesses. MatchMaker has generated more than $4 billion in new business opportunities for
exhibitors since inception in 1999.
Nearly 10 years ago, FCA established its High Focus Program with
an aim to take suppliers with greater potential for diverse spend
and equip them with the tools and support to achieve their
diversity targets. The diversity spend status of each supplier is
monitored monthly and reviewed with the supplier quarterly. In
2019, 25 suppliers remain in this program.
FCA has a long-standing, enterprise-wide commitment to diversity
and inclusion, which includes supporting 10 business resource
groups representing a range of affinity communities that pursue
initiatives that celebrate multicultural differences and provide
developmental opportunities for employees. Thiele also serves as
the Executive Sponsor for the Middle Eastern Employees Together
business resource group.
In 2019, FCA was named among the country's leading companies for
diversity by Diversityinc magazine and among the country's leading
companies supporting Hispanic women by Latina Style magazine, among other diversity
honors.
MMSDC
The Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC) is a
non-profit organization promoting the economic growth of our
corporate members and the minority-owned businesses that serve
them. Operating since 1977, MMSDC drives more than $36 billion dollars in economic impact each year
with its 1,200 certified minority business owners and 300 corporate
members. For more information, visit
www.minoritysupplier.org.
FCA
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is a global automaker that designs,
engineers, manufactures and sells vehicles in a portfolio of
exciting brands, including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge,
Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep®, Lancia, Ram and Maserati.
It also sells parts and services under the Mopar name and operates
in the components and production systems sectors under the Comau
and Teksid brands. FCA employs nearly 200,000 people around
the globe. For more details regarding FCA (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA),
please visit www.fcagroup.com.
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