Black automotive supplier organization opens office in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA - An organization for black automotive suppliers is opening its first office outside Michigan in Alabama, where it hopes to capitalize on the South&#39;s growing car industry. <br> <br> The Montgomery office of the National Association of Black Automotive Suppliers will serve Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. The organization links automakers with minority-owned suppliers. <br> <br> Noting the demands by Alabama-based manufacturers including Mercedez-Benz, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota, office director Lamar Higgins says Alabama seemed a logical base for the new four-state region. <br> <br> The organization can link manufacturing plants with parts builders while working to keep suppliers abreast of predicted changing trends. <br> <br> The Detroit-based NABAS has 54 members. Many are multimillion-dollar black-owned companies employing hundreds of workers.