Tamara Hicks looked around at the people in the room watching her receive the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce Minority Business Advocate Award and pointed out that she had a great many of them on speed-dial on her phone.
It’s one of the benefits, she said, of being a regular attendee at event such as APACC’s 21st annual East-West supplier diversity summit, where supplier diversity professionals and companies seeking better supplier-diversity programs have a chance to meet and network.
“From a supplier and corporate perspective, it’s a benefit to get to know one another,” said Hicks, Senior Manager of Supplier Diversity, General Motors Corporation. “The supplier diversity space is a family. We’re all here with the same purpose – to make everything more inclusive.”
APACC has been bringing the supplier diversity community together for more than two decades now. This year’s East-West Summit hooked up hundreds of spectators with dozens of businesses in an effort to produce the kind of inclusiveness the group seeks.
Duc Abrahamson, APACC’s executive director, said the whole goal is to bring together diverse suppliers with companies that are looking for women, people of color, veterans and suppliers in other blocs.
“This is our supplier diversity match-making event,” Abrahamson said with a smile. “This is where Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is the hot topic.”
In addition to the networking opportunities, the APACC’s East-West Summit, held with a packed crowd in the Wayne State University Student Center, featured several speakers.
The list included:
- Mike Duggan, Mayor, City of Detroit
- Ashok Sivanand, CEO, Integral
- Kavy Lenon, Supplier Inclusion Manager, Meijer
- Yusuke Shindo, Consul General of Japan in Detroit
- Garlin Gilchrist II, Lt. Governor, State of Michigan
Duggan arrived at the APACC event having just left a Detroit City Council, where the mayor – originally elected in 2013 – had just presented his annual budget.
He noted that the process has become more streamlined in his tenure, without the back-and-forth political bickering often see at the state and national levels.
“Every year, I present the budget by the first week of March, and they pass it by the first week of April,” Duggan said. “There are no government shutdowns, no continuing resolution … all of that drama and nonsense you see in Washington,
“If there’s one thing I’ve had an impact on changing, it’s getting rid of the ‘us-vs-them’ politics,” he added.
With a city already facing bankruptcy, Duggan decided to forego the “blame game” – no fights with Lansing, no fights with the suburbs or the unions – and instead build a culture of inclusivity and, in 2017, he was reelected, he pointed out, with 72% of the vote.
“I said we’re going to run a city where everyone is welcome, where everybody is valued,” Duggan said. “I told people if you vote for me, it’s not going to matter if you’re black or brown or white. It’s not going to matter if you’re Christian, Jewish or Muslim. It’s not going to matter if you’re gay or straight. It’s not going to matter if you were born in Detroit or you immigrated from another country.
“If you’re voting for me,” he told voters, “you’re voting or a vision of the city where everyone is welcome.”
Shindo, the Consul General of Japan in Detroit, said he was happy to get the invitation from APACC, because he knows the importance and the impact of east-west relations as it pertains to the business climate.
Michigan, Shindo pointed out, has 449 Japanese business facilities in the state – “I’m very happy that Japan remains among the leading foreign businesses in Michigan,” he said — providing more than 39,000 jobs.
Shindo said as he engages with Japanese business leaders in Michigan, he keeps tabs on the state of their businesses, the favorability of the state’s business climate and what the challenges are for them here.
“Generally, they say they are happy with their Michigan experience,” Shindo said. “Sometimes they face serious issues like the supply chain problems from the pandemic. These days I hear they have to deal with a workforce shortage and talent availability.
“This issue isn’t unique to Michigan,” he added. “It resonates across the United States. People say securing talent is the key to their business. The demand for skilled and talented workers remains high, especially in light of the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles and automated technology.”
Gilchrist, in his second term as the state’s lieutenant governor, called the work being done by APACC “really inspiring.” He said east-west business connections are natural things to facilitate here.
“We have a rich history of recognizing that prosperity and opportunity only come from connection, only come from recognizing that all of us have something to contribute to our collective success, that we are not able to be individually successful without the strength and support of others,” Gilchrist said. “APACC and other institutions like it represent bringing together our diversity for its empowering impact.”
