Mitsubishi Motors, in Partnership with UNCF and Clark Atlanta University, Announces Young Entrepreneurs Program
24 November 1997
Mitsubishi Motors, in Partnership with UNCF and Clark Atlanta University, Announces Young Entrepreneurs Program
Program Offers Minority Students a Unique Chance to Develop Entrepreneurial
Skills and Learn of Specific Opportunities Within the Automotive Industry
ATLANTA, Nov. 24 -- Representatives from Mitsubishi Motors,
the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Clark Atlanta University (CAU)
gathered today to announce a joint effort to provide minority students
entrepreneurial education and opportunity through the Mitsubishi Motors Young
Entrepreneurs Program. During an announcement ceremony held at the Science
and Research Center on the campus of Clark Atlanta University, Richard D.
Recchia, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Mitsubishi
Motor Sales of America, Inc. (MMSA) joined Virgil Ecton, senior executive vice
president and chief operating officer for The College Fund/UNCF and Dr. Thomas
W. Cole, Jr., Clark Atlanta University president, to introduce the partnership
and explain the program.
According to Recchia, this is the first entrepreneurial program
specifically designed to recruit minority students to the automotive industry
sponsored by a U.S.-based Japanese automotive company.
The Mitsubishi Motors Young Entrepreneurs Program is a specialized
educational program that introduces minority students to entrepreneurial
professions as an alternative to more traditional career paths. The program,
launched at Clark Atlanta University's School of Business Administration, is
open to students attending UNCF colleges or universities, or one of the
Hispanic Associated Colleges and Universities (HACU). Students selected for
the program will develop skills necessary to become successful business
leaders and gain insight and exposure to specific opportunities within the
automotive industry.
"We are proud to join UNCF and Clark Atlanta University in this effort to
open the door for intelligent and talented minority students to
entrepreneurial professions. The automotive industry needs to cultivate the
talent of promising minority students to encourage them to become the business
leaders of tomorrow's auto industry," said Recchia.
Recchia continued, noting that "for all the competitiveness of this
business, nothing is more challenging, yet more potentially rewarding, than
the objective we're trying to accomplish through the Young Entrepreneur's
Program: to substantially improve the diversity of our company and of our
industry in a way that more accurately reflects our customer base and our
society."
The Mitsubishi Motors Young Entrepreneurs Program entails a Summer
Institute, Dealer Mentor Assignment and Mitsubishi Motors Fellowship. The
Summer Institute includes a five-week educational program addressing crucial
skills for success in business through classroom lectures, short exercises,
group projects and interaction with successful business professionals from
different industries. After successful completion of the Summer Institute,
Mitsubishi Motors will award students a $5,000 scholarship.
Following the Summer Institute, students are paired with a Mitsubishi
Motors dealer who will introduce them to all phases of dealership operations.
Once assigned to a mentor, Mitsubishi Motors will award students a $2,500
stipend.
Upon graduation, approximately five students will be selected to work at a
Mitsubishi Motors dealership, attend the National Automobile Dealer
Association's Dealer Academy and receive other professional training as
Mitsubishi Motors "Fellows."
"The Mitsubishi Motors Young Entrepreneurs Program combines classroom and
practical education along with scholarships and stipends which allow students
to dedicate time to learning," noted Ecton. "Fostering interest in
entrepreneurial careers also requires interaction with mentors and the
opportunity to see the benefits of taking personal risk. Together with
Mitsubishi Motors, we have developed a program that addresses the key elements
for future success."
Dr. Cole added that "the commitment of Mitsubishi Motors to this
first-of-a-kind entrepreneurial program to impact the representation of
minorities in business is admirable and Clark Atlanta certainly appreciates
the effort."
Mitsubishi Motors involvement in the Young Entrepreneur's Program is the
first in a series of aggressive and strategic initiatives which the company is
embarking on that will act as a catalyst to enhance and expand diversity at
the company to more closely reflect its customers and the communities where it
conducts business.
Additional initiatives for the company include a market investment program
that provides financial assistance to qualified minority candidates to open
and own Mitsubishi Motors dealerships. Through a three-phase process ending
with 100 percent ownership of the dealership, individuals lacking the
necessary financial resources but with the appropriate experience, knowledge
and expertise can own and operate a dealership.
Through a partnership with the National Automobile Dealers Association,
Mitsubishi Motors has also instituted an extensive training program for women
and minorities who are already in the automotive business. The program will
include classroom training through NADA's Dealer Academy, as well as on-the-
job training assignments in Mitsubishi Motors' dealerships.
"We've found that in order to increase the number of qualified women and
minority dealer applicants, proper training and recruitment are critical,"
said Recchia. "And formulating a fresh approach, such as the Young
Entrepreneur's Program, fosters new and creative opportunities for expansion,
growth and higher levels of opportunity for women, African-Americans and other
minorities at our company and among our dealer body."
Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc. was established in 1982 by
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Tokyo, and markets a full line of vehicles,
including coupes, convertibles, sedans and sport utility vehicles.
The School of Business Administration offers bachelor of arts degrees in
accounting or business administration with concentrations in accounting,
finance, international business, management and marketing. The School also
offers a nationally recognized MBA program. The School's graduate and
undergraduate programs are fully accredited by the American Assembly of
Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Clark Atlanta University is the largest of the United Negro College Fund
institutions and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's, specialist
and doctoral degrees. "Money" magazine ranks Clark Atlanta as one of the top
educational buys among the colleges and universities in the United States in
its 1996 "America's Best Colleges" Guide.
SOURCE Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, Inc.
