NYX, UPS Store hailed with Chamber’s 2015 business of year awards

Schoolcraft’s Jeffress Center, Masri Orthdontics 

earn enhancement awards 

(LIVONIA; February 9, 2015)  - Recent days have been full of accolades for NYX Inc.

General Motors recognized the Livonia-based parts manufacturer as a 2014 supplier of the year for interior parts produced for Colorado and Canyon trucks, and the company will be honored this month by the Livonia Chamber of Commerce as the 2015 Outstanding Large Business of the year.

NYX, UPS Store No. 3011 (Five Mile near Newburgh), Schoolcraft College Jeffress Center, Masri Orthodontics, and Kohl’s will receive awards at the 11^th annual Leadership and Awards Celebration on Thursday, Feb. 19, at Laurel Manor.

“These companies provide underappreciated leadership and generosity to our community,” said Chamber President Dan West. “It is important we acknowledge the exceptional people that run these companies and provide so much to Livonia.”

NYX Inc. designs and builds interior components and under-hood parts that are directly supplied to GM, Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, and Nissan. To meet production demands, NYX built a 40,000-square-foot structure to expand its Plymouth Road manufacturing facility that opened last summer. Overall, NYX runs seven facilities in suburban Detroit with a diverse collection of employees that includes natives from some 30 countries.

“We have a great executive team that is not afraid to take on challenges and an amazing workforce that has a great work ethic,” said Jay Sandhu, the company’s CEO, who also gives much credit to his father, Chain, who left his native India in 1969 for opportunities in the United States.

After working through the ranks at General Motors, Chain Sandhu took control of NYX in 1989 when the fledgling company produced $2 million in sales. Today, the company is one of Michigan’s largest minority-owned companies with projected 2015 sales of $375 million.

“With his vision, hard work, and determination, he was able to buy and grow this company,” Jay Sandhu said. “He has always cared deeply about our employees. He talks to them all the time because he is always walking the floor.”

The company has been generous in Livonia as a regular sponsor of programs for St. Mary Mercy Hospital, Livonia Chamber of Commerce, Livonia Robotics team, and various youth sports.

“We have been happy to call Livonia our home since day one,” Jay Sandhu said. “And since we are a part of this place, we like to give back whenever we can.”

The 2015 Outstanding Small Business of the Year is the UPS Store in The Village Shopping Center, a shop owned for 19 years by Eric Ladwig. The Clarenceville High School alumnus combined hard work, community involvement, and personal relationships to sustain a well-respected operation. He is on a first-name basis with most of the hundreds of people who walk through his store’s doors each week.

His team of eight employees, including wife Liz, processes some 16,000 packages each year, operates 300 post office boxes, and provides other high-tech office services such as printing and copying. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Michael, who has operated a UPS Store in downtown Northville since 1993, and emphasizes the importance of being a business person active in the community.

“We should give back to the community that supports us,” Ladwig said, “and in the process, it has become fun to get to know so many people.”

Among the causes Eric and Liz Ladwig support with time and money include the Angel’s Place Food Pantry, Livonia Kids and Families, and the Livonia Symphony Orchestra. There are spontaneous efforts, too. Last summer, shortly after Westland soccer referee John Bieniewicz was killed during a player altercation, Ladwig and a customer discussed how to support the widow and two young sons. This tragedy struck the Ladwigs since they have two young children, Emily, 7, and Evan, 4.

In less than two weeks, they brought a hot dog stand outside the store for five hours. Ladwig said he hoped to raise $2,000 for the family. They ended up raising $5,700. With donated food, they charged $5 for a hot dog, chips and a drink. Most people paid $20, and several others donated at least $100.

“It was really easy to do with our connections and our loyal customers, because we didn’t do that much advertising,” Ladwig said. “It was great to be able to help the family like that.”

He added he is surprised and humbled to be selected for this year’s small business award. “We are so happy to be recognized like that, and still don’t quite believe it yet.”

The Schoolcraft College Jeffress Center and Masri Orthodontics will receive this year’s Community Enhancement Award, which honors Livonia companies that invest in a construction project that makes a visible difference in the community.

Schoolcraft College opened the Jeffress Center last year, re-utilizing the former American Community Mutual Insurance building at Seven Mile and Haggerty that sat empty for five years. 

The four-story building holds new offices for administration, business development, and continuing education functions, as well as new satellite facilities for University of Toledo and Wayne State University. Other operations on campus were expanded and enhanced as part of the overall $18 million project.

The building is named for current Schoolcraft President Dr. Conway Jeffress, who has run the school for 14 years and worked there for 32 years.

“I am grateful that the Board of Trustees would bestow this legacy on me,” Jeffress said. “I am honored to have my name on this beautiful building.”

Dr. Nawaf Masri razed a small medical office – vacant for several years – on Levan near Five Mile, and constructed a new, two-story building featuring stone, brick, and glass. The 10,000-squre-foot building opened last April. The project culminated years of planning, ignited shortly after Masri purchased the Livonia practice in 2003, then located on Schoolcraft Road.

“We were looking for another place, preferably on a corner, and we came up with this,” Masri said. “We were aiming for an eye-catching, aesthetically pleasing, and contemporary design with many windows to capture natural light.”

Masri acknowledged there were headaches in developing the new building, but he said his clients and staff are enjoying the new home for Masri Orthodontics.

“We are very proud of this city and we want to serve this community well,” Masri said. “With this investment, we are saying our staff, our clients, and our community deserve a really nice building.”

The Cleveland native was drawn to Michigan 12 years ago when he married Abeer Tabbaa, a Livonia Stevenson graduate. The couple has three young children.

Kohl’s department store on Seven Mile near Middlebelt was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Livonia Greenleaf Award. Developed by the City of Livonia’s Greenleaf Commission on Sustainability, the panel aims to reward those Livonia businesses that implement strategies that place equal importance on environmental quality, economic prosperity, and social equity.

The store opened in 2012 as part of the Livonia Marketplace shopping center, and became the city’s second Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building, along with Madonna University Franciscan Center.

The Livonia location is an Energy Star Certified building, and it is one of many Kohl’s stores that use solar power, recyclable shopping bags, provide recycling centers, and give employees reusable water cups.

The Livonia Chamber’s Ambassador of the Year – for the chamber’s leading volunteer – is Julie Van Ameyde, who owns and operates the marketing and social media consulting company, Simply Social Media. Over the past year, she has been omnipresent as an attendee and/or volunteer at chamber programs, grand openings, and other efforts that welcomed new businesses to the Chamber.

“The more I met people in the Chamber, the more I wanted to become active,” Van Ameyde said. “Everyone is so welcoming and positive. My membership has resulted in many new connections, friends, clients, and colleagues.”

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oakland University, which helped her launch a career in marketing and business management at various companies in four states for more than 20 years before forming Simply Social Media in 2009. Her company provides consulting, training, and speaking expertise to business people in the ever-evolving world of social media.

She also taught computer science as an adjunct professor at Schoolcraft College from 1992-2001. Van Ameyde lives in Northville with her husband, John Smilnak, a retired Livonia Fire Captain.

The business award winners were nominated by Livonia Chamber of Commerce members and community leaders and selected by an anonymous committee who evaluates the nominations.

The Leadership and Awards program, sponsored by Marsh & McLennan Agency, AlphaUSA, St. Mary Mercy Hospital and Madonna University, is coordinated by the Livonia Chamber of Commerce and The Livonia Observer. Tickets are available at $25 each. Admission includes a strolling dinner and soft drinks. A cash bar will be available. To reserve tickets, call the Livonia Chamber office at 734.427.2122, or via e-mail at tahmouch@livonia.org.

CONTACT: Dan West, president, Livonia Chamber of Commerce, 734.427.2122