Through sheer force of will, tenacity, and ingenuity, Ms. Andra Rush remarkably transformed a $5,000 loan, a couple of credit cards, and three old vehicles into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse and the largest Native American minority business enterprise (MBE) in the United States. Ms. Rush serves as a beacon of excellence in the MBE community and has made an ineffaceable impact in the Native American community and the state of Michigan. For these reasons, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council is honored to induct Ms. Rush into our Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame.

It’s the classic American success story; a person from humble beginnings, with an idea, a small loan, and big dreams, goes on to build a multibillion-dollar company that positively impacts their community. Ms. Rush knows firsthand that it’s not as easy as it may seem. At only 23, after entering business school at the University of Michigan and interning at an air freight company, Rush decided to start her own trucking company. She began by providing emergency shipment services for customers in the automotive industry. With a little success under her belt, Ms. Rush felt optimistic about her future, “I thought I could retire by the time I was 27. At that age, you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Although she didn’t retire, within three years, Ms. Rush made extraordinary growth in her fledgling trucking business, going from 4 used trucks and vans to 40 fully equipped units. To accomplish this feat, Rush focused on excellence, punctuality and financial prudence – by ensuring that every one of her shipments were delivered on time, and by taking a full-time, 12-hour day job on the weekends as a registered nurse utilizing her nursing degree from the University of Michigan. Ms. Rush was able to develop credibility with the automobile suppliers in the state while also reinvesting her revenue back into the company.

Despite her early successes, Rush wasn’t satisfied and continued to expand the company. She was motivated to improve; not only because of her ambitions but also because of her commitment to the Native American community and her desire to provide a sizable and sustainable impact to the people and families in the community. This desire was first instilled during her teenage visits to her grandparents’ home at their reservation in Ontario. After seeing firsthand the poverty and hopelessness in the community, she knew she wanted to make a difference. She first began to employ Native Americans early in the company’s existence, hiring people from the local communities and close to her customers. She maintained a family atmosphere, with many of the employees attending church and little league games together. By 2001, Rush had upwards of 1,000 employees, many of whom were Native American.

Success wasn’t always a guarantee for Rush. As with any business, many roadblocks were facing her business at every level. Being a woman entrepreneur in the male-dominated trucking industry was chief among them. “[For years,] people imagined that the business was run by my dad or my boyfriend,” Rush stated in the Reader’s Digest, “I had to say, ‘No, the business is me!”. Rush also states that diversity has improved since she first started, noting there are many more women in the boardroom than ever before. She even used it as an advantage, “They’d be thinking, ‘Let’s see what this female president of a trucking company is like.’ They wanted to know if I really knew what I was talking about. And they were pleasantly surprised.” (Diversity Magazine).

Over the course of 33 years, Ms. Rush has grown her company to be one of the largest and most successful minority- and woman-owned businesses in the country, spanning multiple enterprises and joint ventures that generate over $2 billion in annual revenue. In acknowledgment of her significant contributions to minority entrepreneurship and local communities, the MMSDC is honored to induct Ms. Rush into the Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame.