A 1955 graduate of Detroit’s Holy Redeemer High School, Muñoz went to work as a bookkeeper for a Detroit manufacturer that made precision machine parts for the automotive industry. She spent 27 years absorbing as much as she could about purchasing, production control, estimating, and labor negotiations. “I learned the jobs that my boss didn’t like to do himself, those he found too tedious,” she said.
Ms. Muñoz founded her first business with 25 years experience in the precision machine manufacturing industry. After buying out her partners, Ms. Muñoz’s company continued to excel by earning numerous prestigious supplier quality awards from Ford Motor Company and General Motors. Muñoz Machine Products, along with three other Hispanic companies, formed the Hispanic Manufacturing Center (HMC) in an old GM building in Southwest Detroit. Since 1996, she has taken her wealth of business and community leadership experiences and focused her energies on making a difference and opening up more opportunities for the disadvantaged and minority youth. When other women are ready for retirement, Ms. Muñoz’s passion and concern for minority equity have kept her working. Employed for a time with the Michigan Minority Business Development Council, she has helped countless other business owners and co-workers hone their entrepreneurial skills while building solid business practices. Muñoz founded the GRACE program (Gang Retirement and Continued Education/Employment), a program that offered an opportunity of rehabilitation and training to gang members who wanted to leave gang life and become contributing members of the community. She is a lifelong-community advocate and mentor to emerging business leaders; she continues to help others to see the value of their work ethic, education, and training.
For Ms. Muñoz’s work as an entrepreneur, non-profit leadership, community advocacy also with the positive impact she has made in the Hispanic community, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council is proud to induct Carmen Muñoz into the Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame.
Mr. Joseph was the Senior Executive for Diversity Supplier Development at Chrysler LLC before retirement. His duties included identifying qualified minority suppliers, developing existing minority suppliers, verifying credentials, and expanding minority suppliers through first tier opportunities. He encouraged minority sub-contracting with first-tier suppliers, monitoring progress toward annual minority supplier participation goals, providing minority supplier access to the Chrysler’s Global Sourcing community, monitoring second tier participation and interfacing with the community.
Through his work, Jethro Joseph enabled hundreds of minority entrepreneurs to not only successfully enter the business world but to thrive in it. His work at FCA serves as a standard bearer all other supplier development programs soon followed.
Jethro Joseph is a familiar face in the industry as well as in local and national Supplier Diversity circles. Mr. Joseph served as a member of the Board of Directors of; National Minority Supplier Development Council, Diversity Information Resources, Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council (MMSDC), The Business Consortium Fund (BCF), Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MHCC), Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR), Chrysler’s African American Network (CAAN). Mr. Joseph currently serves as a member of the board of the Native American Business Alliance (NABA), Morris Brown College National Alumni Association, Health Alliance Plan and Hartford Memorial Baptist Church. He is a member of the Michigan Association of CPAs and Detroit Inter-Alumni Council – United Negro College Fund.
Among the many honors Mr. Joseph has received are the Minority Business Enterprise Coordinator of the year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council on two occasions during his tenure in this position; America’s Top Diversity Advocates by Diversitybusiness.com, Men Impacting Supplier Diversity, Hispanic Advocate Award, Tuck School of Business Corporate Supplier Diversity Advocate;
Influential Minorities in Business; Diversity Supplier Mentor Award; President’s Recognition Award by the Michigan Minority Business Development Council; Business Consortium Fund Star Recognition and United Negro College Fund Man of the Year for Morris Brown College. The National Black Automotive Suppliers recognized Mr. Joseph as Supplier Diversity Legend also the Michigan Chronicle recognized Mr. Joseph as one of the Men of Excellence for the Detroit community.
For his work as a career advocate for minority supplier development, and the standard that he helped set for corporations here in Michigan. The Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council is proud to induct Jethro Joseph into the Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame.
Mr. Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. born in Topeka, Kansas, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1965, with a bachelor of science degree in math and engineering.
During his military career, Mr. Anderson commanded troops as an infantry officer in the 82nd Airborne Division and served two tours of duty with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam. In addition to troop command, Mr. Anderson served as aide-de-camp to two general officers, and he also was an assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. Mr. Anderson and the infantry platoon he commanded in Vietnam were subjects of the highly acclaimed documentary film “The Anderson Platoon.” Mr. Anderson’s military awards include two silver stars, five bronze stars, three Army Commendation Medals, and eleven Air Medals. Mr. Anderson resigned his commission in 1978, after 13 years of service and early selection for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.
Mr. Anderson began his business career with General Motors in 1979 at Pontiac Motor Division. In 1981, after several manufacturing assignments, Mr. Anderson was named plant manager of the Pressed Metal and Plating Operations, Pontiac Motor Division. By 1990, he was appointed as a general director of a business unit with 7,000 employees and revenue of $1 billion. In late 1992, after 13 years of service, Mr. Anderson resigned from General Motors to become president and CEO of a privately held company, Composite Energy Management Systems, Incorporated (CEMSI). In October 1994, Mr. Anderson acquired a controlling interest in another privately owned entity, Chivas Products Limited. In 1997, the company restructured as Chivas Industries, LLC where Mr. Anderson maintained controlling ownership and held the position of chairman of the board and CEO before divesting his interest in 2002. He is currently the majority owner, chairman, and CEO of TAG Holdings, LLC which owns several manufacturing, service and technology-based entities based in North America.
In May 2016, Mr. Anderson received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the United States Military Academy at West Point, honoring him for his lifetime of achievement.
For his remarkable career and particularly his remarkable, lifelong, entrepreneurial successes, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council is proud to induct Joe Anderson into the Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame.
Detroit, MI native Robert E. Rossiter served Lear Corporation forfour decades and was an exceptional leader and a driving force in building Lear Corporation into a world-class global company. Bob held positions of increasing responsibility until
he was ultimately promoted to Chief Executive Officer, a position he held for the last 11 years of his career at Lear.
Bob fostered a culture of industry leading customer service, continuous improvement, the highest level of integrity and support of the communities where Lear does business. These core values are the foundation of Lear’s rich culture that
continue to guide Lear today.
Under his leadership, Lear grew from a small U.S. based supplier to a multibillion dollar leading global supplier of automotive seating and electrical distribution systems. In addition to his many career accomplishments, Bob’s contributions to the community included serving on numerous charitable boards, support of hundreds of charitable causes and pledges of millions in financial support to worthy causesworldwide.