Sid Taylor, the 2009 Large Business Vetrepreneur of the Year, understands the significance of teamwork. Taylor served as a machine gunner in the 3rd Marines, 3rd Battalion, B Company in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and learned firsthand the magnitude of depending on the right people.

"Without my buddies watching my back, I don’t know that I would be here today," Taylor said. "It was so important to have a good team effort. And the same goes for business as well. You have to operate as a team. Good people are the difference between success and failure."

Taylor, 60, the chairman and CEO of SET Enterprises Inc., a metal processing service, has capitalized on this philosophy for more than 40 years. Taylor worked for General Motors for 22 years and decided to strike out on his own in 1988.

"I didn’t just jump up and leave," Taylor said. "I spent two years devising my business plan and I used 22 years of stock as seed money."

Taylor founded S.E.T Steel Inc. in 1989 and said another veteran helped him get his first big break.

"My first big step was getting Ford Motor Company to allow me to become a supplier," Taylor said. "The person that really listened to my story was another military man at Ford Motor Company—his name was Dr. Renaldo Jensen. Because I was a veteran and he was a veteran, he allowed me to tell my story and really opened up the door for me. But then it was up to me to take that as an opportunity and that’s exactly what I did."

After that first year, SET Enterprises grossed only $90,000 in sales. Today SET Enterprises employs more than 400 people in its six facilities across three states and grossed more than $218 million in 2007. Nearly 20 years later, SET is still a supplier for Ford as well a an array of other corporate clients including Daimler Chrysler, US Steel, AK Steel, Toyota and Aisin U.S.A. Mfg., INC. just to name a few.

Taylor believes strongly in sharing his success with the community. In 2000, he established Real Life 101 (reallife101.org), a scholarship program designed to help at-risk, underprivileged students. Since its inception, the fund has provided more than 130 graduates from the Detroit Public Schools system with a $1,000 college scholarship each year for up to five years. The scholarship includes a five-year mentoring program and a laptop computer.

"To be recognized as the top of the class is a huge tribute," Taylor said of being named Vetrepreneur of the Year. "Anytime you can say that out of the United States you were selected, that means a lot."

In 2001, Taylor was the Ernst and Young Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year for the manufacturing category and in 2003 he was elected president of the National Association of Black Automotive Suppliers. He is an advisory board member of Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., and a member of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council.

Taylor offered some words of wisdom for other vetrepreneurs.

"Control the things that you control," Taylor said. "That’s what I believe you have to focus on. Look at those things. See if there are ways to improve them and if you’re not happy with them, then you can always take it to that next level and not spend your time and energy on the things you don’t control. That keeps your energy focused on the business objectives. And to that end you’re a lot more likely to succeed."

Notes: Dr. Renaldo Jensen, a retired Air Force colonel, led the supplier diversity development program at Ford Motor Co. for 27 years.  

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