Phillips named Yorozu COO

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

PHILLIPS

Warren County native Jack Phillips has been made president and chief operating officer of Yorozu Automotive Tennessee, Inc. effective April 1, 2004. The announcement was made by Yorozu chairman and CEO Masataka Ebato on March 29. Phillips will assume the responsibilities of Mr. Ebato at YAT, while Ebato will remain chairman and CEO of Yorozu’s facilities in North America and Mexico. Phillips’ previous title at the company was vice president of operations.

Phillips is the first American born president and COO in Yorozu’s history, and says he is pleased the company’s board has placed its faith in him.

Phillips, the son of former residents Dr. James E. and Mary Phillips, has been with Yorozu for seven years, after having held leadership roles with several other companies in Tennessee, Georgia and Texas.

He has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from MTSU, and another in logistics from the University of Tennessee. He also holds a master of business administration from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Phillips lives in Warren County with his wife Robin, sons Robert, 3, and John, 5, and daughter Emily, 9.

Yorozu Automotive is a multi-million dollar manufacturer of suspension parts for some of the country’s leading automotive companies. Nissan, Honda and GM are among the company’s major customers. The company does around $200 million in sales per year.

Yorozu currently has a workforce of 859 employees housed in a 561,000-square-foot plant situated on 60 acres located in Mountain View Industrial Park in Morrison.

Phillips’ fellow employees are pleased with his selection and attest to his leadership abilities.

“I think he’s very capable of doing the job,” said Human Resources section manager Richard King. “He’s been with us for a long time. The employees respect him. We’re very proud of him.”

Phillips says the company is doing well and has turned around from several years of losses, and is now profitable and beating its current business plan for this year, something Phillips says has been a team effort.

“I’ve been given a tremendous amount of credit from the people on the floor and from the people in management too,” he said. “But they’re mistaken thinking I’ve done it. I want to make sure the people on the floor get the credit and the entire management staff. Not any one person can turn a plant around. I’m very, very happy for the position they’ve given me and I owe a lot of people for this.”

Phillips said the people make the plant what it is.

“Everybody around here does a great job,” Phillips said. “Everybody works hard. This is just a tremendous place to work. A really good group of people.”