Environment

GM’s Sustainable Supplier of the Year is ‘Ideal’ Choice

Mar 15, 2013 2:30 PM ET
Campaign: GM Waste Reduction
General Motors Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson (left), GM Vice President Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Grace Lieblein (center) and GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky (right) present an Overdrive award to supplier Ideal Contracting at the 21st annual GM Supplier of the Year awards. Representing Ideal Contracting are Daniel Kovoch (l to r), Frank Venegas and Loren Venegas. (Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors)

GM BeyondNow

When we unveiled our Cadillac Urban Garden last August, we made it clear we could not have completed that community project on our own. It took a village.

Or, more specifically, it took an effort from Ideal Group, Detroit Dirt, Rush Trucking, and the Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, to turn shipping crates into raised beds that would provide nutritious food to nearby residents.

As we strive to design and build cars with sustainability in mind, we rely on the commitment and expertise of our suppliers to help us with projects, like the Cadillac Urban Garden, that go beyond building vehicles.

And, in turn, we want to recognize those suppliers that are integral to our endeavors.

As we take a moment to re-live the process that brought the project together, we are happy to announce Ideal Group as a winner of the all-new General Motors Overdrive for Sustainability supplier award. Ideal Group received this award for undertaking initiatives that contribute to GM’s sustainability plan.

John Bradburn, our manager of waste reduction efforts, approached Ideal with a proposal to turn our shipping crates from Orion Assemblyinto the beds for the garden. Together, we found a way to reuse these materials, while saving energy and resources and helping our local Detroit community in the process.

“The Overdrive Award recognizes those world-class companies that have truly gone above and beyond,” said Grace Lieblein, GM vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain.  “They have not only met the demands of our business, they have also demonstrated through their actions a great commitment to their communities.”

Whether it’s turning plant waste into car parts or executing creative reuse projects, this network of environmentally minded companies is helping improve our business, reduce our impact and enrich the communities in which we operate.

GM recognized its top suppliers in a ceremony Wednesday night at the 21st annual General Motors Supplier of the Year awards in Detroit.