urban wheel Honoring Women In The Automotive Industry For the past 17 years, the Urban Wheel Awards have trumpeted the accomplishments of people of color in the automotive industry. Hosted by the Emerging Diversity
Education Fund and Decisive Media, the theme of this year’s event is “Honoring Women In The Automotive Industry”. Female engineers, automotive designers, dealers, journalists, and executives of all races will get their
the only Mercedes-Benz dealership anywhere owned by an African-American woman. Ross is a member of the board of directors of the American International Automobile Dealers Association, and has been elected to the post of Chair of that organization for 2013. This will make her the first African American to hold that position. An active member of the Dayton community, serving on numerous boards, foundations and community service organizations, Ross has been honored on many occasions for her exemplary work. The Urban Wheel Awards will be presented in the Sound Board Theater at the MotorCity Casino Hotel on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. For information about the event, call 707-645-0965, or visit UrbanWheelAwards.com.d D
evening in the spotlight on Sunday, January 13,
2013 as the Urban Wheel Awards event kicks off the biggest automotive week on the planet.
The only official multicultural event of the North American International Auto Show is the first formal gathering of the seven days of events surrounding the world’s most prestigious auto show. Among those to be honored this year are former automotive journalist Kathy Jackson, and Jenell Ross, president of Bob Ross Buick-GMC Mercedes-Benz Fiat of Centerville, Ohio (a suburb of Dayton). Ms. Jackson will receive the Urban Wheel Lifetime Achievement Award celebrating her storied career as an automotive journalist with Automotive News. One of the first black women to cover the auto industry, Jackson’s most prophetic story may have been her 1997 story on one Dave Smith Motors of Kellogg, Idaho—a small town of 3,000 people. Jackson reported Smith Motors sold 4,000 Dodge Rams in 1996—more trucks than there were people in Kellogg—making the dealership the second largest retail Dodge outlet in the country. How did they do it? By advertising on the Internet. Jackson’s report was the first indication of the impact the World Wide Web was to have on the automotive industry. Jenell Ross, the recipient of the Urban Wheel Pioneer Award, is the only second-generation African-American female automobile dealer in the country. Ross’ Mercedes-Benz of Centerville is the first AfricanAmerican owned Mercedes-Benz dealership in the U.S. Further, it’s Jenell Ross
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