Michael and Carlton Guthrie Recognized at the 6th Annual Sankofa Black Business Awards Gala
DETROIT, MI – Detroit Chassis LLC, an automotive manufacturing company of niche vehicles, Motorhome and Commercial Truck chassis, celebrates being named the 2018 Black Business of the Year by the National Business League at its 2018 Sankofa Awards Gala held at the Motor City Casino November 17, 2018. Detroit Chassis was among 3,000 businesses nationwide who were considered for this prestigious award. Detroit Chassis was recognized for its vision driven, innovative and proactive approaches to economic and community development and employee empowerment and well-being.
Owners Michael and Carlton Guthrie accepted the Award on behalf of Detroit Chassis. Their strategic business plan returned skilled manufacturing jobs from Mexico to inner city Detroit through collaboration with the City of Detroit, the State of Michigan and Ford Motor Company. Detroit Chassis developed a greenfield State-of-the-Art Chassis assembly plant, worked with the UAW to design an innovative collective bargaining agreement that enhances flexibility and competitiveness, and embraced Vision, Mission, and Values that drive “World Champion” performance and Customer Joy. The Guthries have exercised transformative leadership positions in several industry, community and charitable organizations at local, state and national levels.
The Guthries, raised in Gary, IN were valedictorians of their high school senior graduating classes. (Michael – Edison HS ’68 and Carlton – West Side HS ’70). They along with their three siblings (Sheryl – Edison HS Salutatorian ’67; Cynthia – West Side HS ’73 Valedictorian; and, Joseph – West Side HS ’74) are lifetime Gary Alumni Pathways to Students (GAPS) members and are instrumental in the leadership of this organization of which Carlton is Chairman. GAPS connects current students to alumni through programs that create pathways for career and personal success.
Michael and Carlton Guthrie are Co-Chairmen and sole shareholders of Spectra LMP LLC, a Detroit, Michigan based holding company with several automotive manufacturing and engineering subsidiaries. Spectra’s subsidiaries and affiliates include: Detroit Chassis LLC, an assembler of running Class A RV and commercial truck chassis; Detroit Chassis Avon, a tier 1 provider of axles and tire & wheel assemblies to the medium-duty commercial truck industry located in Avon, OH; Detroit Custom Chassis, LLC, a provider of custom up-fits and alternative powertrain conversions for commercial truck chassis and HealthCure, LLC, a provider of infectious disease mitigation, prevention, consulting and remediation services and products that prevent nosocomial infections in healthcare facilities utilizing a patented anti-microbial and proprietary database headquartered in Charlotte, NC.
This year’s Gala was presented by Ford Motor Company and featured keynote speaker, Rosalind Brewer, COO and Group President, Starbucks, and was hosted by WXYZ Anchor, Glenda Lewis and NBL CEO Dr. Kenneth L. Harris, Ph.D.
About Detroit Chassis LLC
Detroit Chassis (www.detroitchassis.com) is a subsidiary of Spectra LMP LLC, a concept to customer provider of niche vehicle manufacturing solutions owned by Michael and Carlton Guthrie. Spectra also owns Detroit Custom Chassis (www.detroitcustomchassis.com) a provider of custom up-fits, alternative powertrain conversions and complex sub-assemblies to a variety of automotive, Motorhome, commercial truck and transit industries. Detroit Chassis has been recognized by Quality Magazine on the Quality Leadership 100 list, and as “Supplier of the Year” by the National Minority Business Development Council and by On Wheels, Inc.
About the National Business League
The National Business League, Inc. (NBL) is the oldest trade association in America, founded on August 23, 1900, by Booker T. Washington, as a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, commerce-driven institution dedicated to the economic empowerment of Black businesses, communities, and people with access to 2.6 million Black businesses across the country. Through its value-add programmatic initiatives and partnerships, it supports Black-owned businesses locally, regionally, nationally, and throughout the Pan-African Diaspora.