By Sue Voyles and Rick Blanchard
It was only fitting that the 16th annual Urban Wheel Awards, the official multicultural event held in conjunction with the North American International Auto Show, kicked off its Jan. 8, 2012, awards event at MotorCity Casino Hotel with a special reception and presentation of its Pioneer Award to Bill Perkins, the first African-American chair of the NAIAS.
Perkins graduated from the GM Dealer Development Academy in 1987. Since then, he has owned and operated five dealerships in southeastern Michigan. Today, his company, The Bill Perkins Automotive Group, employs nearly 150 people and manages the operations of Merollis Chevrolet in Eastpointe and Taylor Chevrolet in Taylor. Perkins has also served as president of the Greater Detroit Chevrolet Dealers Association, president of the General Motors Minority Dealers Association, as a member of the board of the National Association of Minority Auto Dealers, and chairman of the Auto Dealers Political Action Committee for the state of Michigan.
In accepting the award, Perkins acknowledged the support from family, friends and employees, and the importance of diversity.
“You just don’t get awards like this without the help of good people and good employees. The more diverse we become, the better we all are. It’s the people who really make the difference.”
More than 30 of his employees attended the event and surprised Perkins with a video thanking him and stressing the business standards that have made the Perkins Automotive Group a success.
The gala event wrapped up with an awards presentation in Motor City’s glitzy SoundBoard hosted by award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, from “The Cosby Show,” and ABC news anchor John Quinones.
Presenters and speakers during the event included Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Michigan Democratic U.S. Reps. Hansen Clarke, John Dingell and John Conyers Jr., and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; personalities Frankie Darcell from 92.3 FM, actress Debbi Morgan, and Kelly Johnson, Sunday business editor at The Washington Post; as well as, among others, Alfredo Jose Estrada, publisher of Latino Magazine; Elizabeth Gallagher, immediate past vice chair, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and David C. Lizarraga, founder and chairman of TELACU, the largest community development corporation and the one of the largest Hispanic businesses in the U.S.
Attendees at the event were energized by performances from Beth Griffith, Lisa Deveaux and Larry Lee & Back in The Day Band.
The biggest crowd applause came when the Range Rover Evoque drove onto center stage, after winning the award as 2012 Urban Truck of The Year. Andy Goss, president of Jaguar and Land Rover North America, accepted the award for Land Rover and noted that it would likely be “a surprise to some that the North American Truck of the Year is a four-cylinder SUV that achieves 28 miles per gallon.”
The Annual Urban Wheel Awards honor companies, executives, suppliers and others for recognizing the growing multicultural consumer and embracing diversity in operations and mission. The 16th Annual Urban Wheel Awards presented a number of awards in several categories. According to R.L. Polk & Co., consumers in the multicultural market purchase one-quarter of new vehicles annually.
2012 Suppliers of the Year:
African-American Supplier of the Year:
Steven Phillips – chairman, president and CEO, Detroit Technologies Inc.
Detroit Technologies Inc. (DTI) is a Tier 1 supplier in the automotive industry. An accomplished executive and respected leader, Phillips’ "hands-on" style inspires the DTI organization and several strategic alliances and joint venture partnerships to achieve higher levels of quality, sales and customer satisfaction.
Asian Supplier of the Year:
Wallace Tsuha – chairman and CEO, Saturn Engineering & Electronics
Tshua founded Saturn Electronics & Engineering Inc. in 1985. He started with an idea and a business plan, and tenaciously pursued financial resources until he was able to launch with just six employees. Since then, Tsuha has significantly grown the company to a highly recognized global supplier to OEM manufacturers and their suppliers.
Hispanic Supplier of the Year:
David Segura – CEO, VisionIT
Segura is the founder of VisionIT. Fifteen years ago, with a strong technology background, Segura combined his zeal for IT with a vision to create VisionIT, an IT managed services, IT staffing, and vendor management firm. Since that time, Segura has successfully led the company from a startup to a global enterprise working with some of the largest corporations in the U.S. and Latin America.