Dakkota Integrated Systems, a Michigan-based automotive supplier, is one of the largest Native American woman-owned and led companies in the United States. As such, Dakkota is intensely dedicated to diversity and inclusion, repurposing buildings in areas that have seen significant exodus of jobs and industries and providing opportunities to underserved neighborhoods – including Detroit.
“Throughout our 14 locations, we have 71% minority and 36% female employees,” said Lori Lancaster, president, Dakkota Integrated Systems. “Dakkota’s goal is to consistently improve these numbers, and these efforts come straight from our founder and CEO, who is both a Native American woman and a Detroiter. It’s important for her to provide opportunities for Detroiters, and that’s why we built our newest facility on the site of the former Kettering High School.”
More than 500 Detroiters work at the new facility, 10% of whom are refugees. Dakkota prioritizes hiring residents in the five zip codes surrounding the plant and provides on-site job training as well as career development. All employees are eligible for company pre-paid college tuition, books and continuing education programs. They are also highly involved in Dakkota’s Great Ideas program, which incentivizes employees to share ideas for continuous improvement of the company’s operations.
“We’ve seen incredible things from the workforce at the Kettering facility, and I think that’s a direct result of our core values,” said Lancaster. “Those values are based on the Native American spirit and are an underlying theme at Dakkota.”
Dakkota is focused on improving quality of life for their employees and the communities where they operate, which includes making Dakkota’s operations as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible. That’s why the company recently enrolled in DTE’s MIGreenPower program, which attributes 100% of the electricity use at the Kettering facility to renewable energy.
“All our packaging is recyclable, and DTE recently completed an energy audit at our facility to ensure maximum energy efficiency,” said Lancaster. “Enrolling in MIGreenPower is yet another major step towards making Dakkota’s operations cleaner and was a simple, no-cost decision to make.”
You can learn more about DTE’s MIGreenPower program and enroll your home or business today at www.migreenpower.com.
Learn more about Dakkota Integrated Systems at dakkota.com.