Rev. Jesse
L. Jackson, Sr. and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition led a 13-person delegation to
visit leading automotive companies in Japan, last week. The
delegation met with corporate leaders of Toyota, Nissan and Honda at their
Japan headquarters, with the goal of building primary trade and business
relationships with these automotive companies.
In addition, the trade mission established a significant Japanese
network for African-American suppliers through Rainbow PUSH Coalition
relationships.
“The trade mission successfully provided
unprecedented access and opportunity to African American businesses with
Toyota, Honda and Nissan,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson, president and founder,
Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “We are excited
about the opportunity to create mutually beneficial, two-way trade. More importantly, the executive leadership in
Japan and North America are receptive to expanding their supplier base with
minority suppliers. ”
Delegation
members commented on their trip experience. John Henderson, CEO of AEL Span LLC,
which provides a variety of global supply chain services, said, “This was a
high impact series of meetings with top C-Suite executives of Toyota, Honda and
Nissan. We were privileged to be a part of
this trip, and we are excited as to how we were received by these companies. We left with a high level of expectation for
opportunities to grow our business with each of them.” Jeffrey Willis, CEO, Emma Hill Manufacturing
stated, “This was a critical and necessary trip that
served as an eye opening catalyst for the CEO's of Nissan, Honda, and Toyota to
prompt the creation of new and more sustainable partnerships with highly
skilled and prepared minority suppliers like those who were in attendance.”
