Actress LisaRaye hosted the event at the Sound Board Theater in Detroit's MotorCity Casino HoteI, during Press Week of the 2010 North American International Auto Show. Top government officials and Detroit politicians presented awards to automotive companies and suppliers.

Mayor Dave Bing of Detroit and Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow

 

The Urban Wheel Awards honor the auto industry's outstanding achievements in minority business development."The auto industry has consistently been a leader in developing minority businesses," said Randi Payton, president of On Wheels Media (seen above with his wife Karen Payton, On Wheels VP). "Minority suppliers, dealers and businesses should not be overlooked while companies are receiving grants from the Department of Energy's Advanced Vehicle Technology Program."

Earlier that day, On Wheels Media and Hyundai Motor America partnered
to provide coats for needy children in the Detroit area.
Payton and David Zuchowski of Hyundai announced the program.

The 14th Annual Urban Wheel Awardees included:

• 2010 Urban Car of the Year: Ford Taurus SHO

Kimatni Rawlins of Automotive Rhythms (far leftl) and Jawn Murray of AOL BlackVoices (far right) presented the award to Ford's (from l to r) Earl Lucas, Pei-Wen Hsu and Pete Reyes.

• 2010 Urban Truck of The Year: Chevrolet Equinox

Entertainer K'Jon and Detroit's Fox 2 news reporter Roop Raj presented the award to GM's Margaret Brooks

• 2010 Urban Green Vehicle of The Year: Ford Fusion Hybrid

Ford's Jim Farley accepted the Urban Green Vehicle of The Year award for Ford Motor Company

Manny Lopez of The Detroit News (far left) and Carolyn Clifford of WXYZ-TV 7 presented the award to Ford's Mark Perry (l) and Jim Farley (r).

• Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to:

Susan Au Allen, president, US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

Juanita Doby, VP Diversity and HR at Volvo Cars North America.

Irma Elder, philanthropist and auto dealer.

Roderick Gillum (c), GM's' VP Corporate Responsibility and Diversity (retired),
seen here with Kevin Williams of GM (l) and retired GM executive Roy Roberts
 

Urban Wheel Pioneer Award

Presented to Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. for tireless advocacy of minority supplier/dealer development in the auto industry. (Accepted by RainbowPUSH's Glenda Gill and Bill Shack.)
 

• Diversity Leadership Awards were presented to:

Chrysler Group, LLC 

Chrysler's Fred Diaz, Senator Debbie Stabenow, UAW's General Holiefield

General Motors Company

Accepted by Christine Sitek, GM executive director, Global Purchasing

 

• Advanced Vehicle Technology Awards were presented to:Fisker Automotive, Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motor Company, and Tesla Motors Incorporated

(From l) Vic Doolan, Fisker Automotive; Marianne Markowitz, SBA;
Mark Perry, Nissan USA; Ricardo Reyes, Tesla Motors Incorporated
 

• Stimulating Minority Business Development Awards were presented to:

National Association of Black Automotive Suppliers

 

Leon Richardson; NABAS, Eric Dobyne regional director, Minority Business Enterprise Agency;Roderick Rickman, NABAS

 

Michigan Minority Business Development Agency

 

Louis Green, MMBDA; Dobyne; Tony Brown, Ford/MMBDA

National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers

Damon Lester, NAMAD; Dobyne

The 15th Urban Wheel Awards presentation will be January 9, 2011. Proceeds benefit the Edward Davis Education Foundation (EDEF), a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization established by On Wheels Media, Inc. The mission of EDEF is to provide scholarships, internships and mentoring to students pursuing careers in the automotive industry and communications.

Scholarships were presented to high school and college students in conjunction with a coat donation ceremony where On Wheels Media and Hyundai Motor America partnered with Focus: HOPE to provide 1,000 winter coats to Detroit children and families.

On Wheels Media, Inc. is a multi-media communications company that produces consumer-oriented print and digital publications, Websites, broadcast properties, and events. Publications include the all- new

DECISIVE magazine, a comprehensive multi-media platform for multicultural consumers. The company also produces African Americans On Wheels and Latinos On Wheels magazines, which are distributed in more than 100 newspapers throughout the United States and have a combined readership of 8 million. On Wheels Media also produces consumer events and launched the first automotive magazine Website in 1995.