GM FastLane:A Special Honor

[Bruce Nunnally]

Secretary Rice and Bob Lutz

By Bob Lutz

GM Vice Chairman

I usually blog about cars and trucks, because that’s my responsibility, but today I’ll make an exception, to briefly point out something that we are very proud of at General Motors.

Yesterday I had to go to Washington to represent our chairman and CEO, Rick Wagoner, at the U.S. State Department. GM was awarded the State Department’s highest award for American companies operating overseas. I was honored to accept the Award for Corporate Excellence from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who recognized GM for our social responsibility programs in Colombia, South America.

I accepted the award on behalf of General Motors’ Colombian operations, GM Colmotores. Employees there have worked very hard on several vital programs, notably in supporting the non-profit organization Juan Bosco Obrero, which houses and retrains former illegal young paramilitaries and reintegrates them into Colombian society. The company also supports, through funding and volunteer work, the needs of children and families displaced by violence.

GM Colmotores just celebrated its 50th anniversary, by the way. Seems they also have an almost 50 percent market share, so it's a case of "doing well while doing good."

So, while I normally save my enthusiasm for our new products, I was deeply moved by the great work of one of our smaller subsidiaries. And Secretary Rice is, as one would expect, a most impressive person. All in all, it was quite a rewarding day.

To see the speech in full, take a look at this video.

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2006/...al_honor_1.html