Goodyear unveils black enterprise initiative

Tyre manufacturer Goodyear South Africa yesterday unveiled its black enterprise and supplier development initiative, the Umthombo Development Programme, at its state-of-theart Uitenhage manufacturing facility. Directed at increasing procurement from black-owned enterprises, the programme underlines Goodyear’s commitment to transformation by developing black entrepreneurs and black-owned enterprises. Umthombo means “fountain”, or “the source from which something proceeds or is supplied”. Goodyear South Africa group managing director Darren Hayes-Powell said: “We believe transformation is a journey as constant as change, [so] business cannot sufficiently prepare us for the future. “For this reason we leverage and expand our enterprise and supplier development footprint into one consolidated programme, Umthombo. “[It] is the source from which our beneficiaries draw inspiration, empowerment, development and success, to be viable, sustainable and flourishing businesses that will contribute meaningfully to the economy.” The programme, just one component of Goodyear’s transformation strategy, came about after the company had formed a project team which applied transformational strategies geared to increase procurement from black-owned enterprises. Selected individuals and enterprises have already taken part in Umthombo. It empowers participants with the tools they need to develop from small to medium businesses and to establish themselves in their markets. As part of the programme, Goodyear partnered with Port Elizabeth’s The Hope Factory for a two-year finance and business development programme, customised to Goodyear requirements. It is aimed at equipping Goodyear enterprise development beneficiaries with the skills required to conduct business with the tyre maker once they graduated to supplier status. The programme’s beneficiaries are engineering services concern Advnteknik, owned by Daniel Maele, and Ayanda Mkhize, the managing director of logistics enterprise Khanyamasi Projects, who is in her second year with Umthombo. Khaya Engineering and Ntozonke Agencies are also Goodyear supplier development beneficiaries.