Andra Rush

Andra Rush is founder, chair and CEO of the Rush Group of Companies, including Dakkota Integrated Systems, Rush Trucking Corporation and Rush Supply Chain Management.

Rush Group specializes in large-scale component manufacturing, complex assembly and sequencing, supply chain management, logistics and land transportation for global brands, and employs 3,000 team members. It is one of the largest Native American-owned and woman-owned enterprises in the U.S.

Rush’s mission is to create profitable and sustainable career opportunities in underrepresented communities across the U.S. and Canada, including Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Ontario.

In 1984, she borrowed $5,000 from her parents, combined with $3,000 in savings, and used her credit cards to launch Rush Trucking with one van and two pickup trucks. Five years later, Rush Trucking was nominated by the Detroit 3 automakers for Corporation of the Year as an outstanding supplier-partner. Today, Rush Trucking Corporation transports parts for Fortune 50 companies across the U.S. and Canada with 1,100 tractor-trailers.

Rush launched Dakkota Integrated Systems in 2001, providing assembly and sequencing of automotive interiors to original equipment manufacturers, including General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. At Dakkota’s 13 locations, she has created good-paying jobs in the U.S. and Canada near tribal reservations for Native peoples.

The University of Michigan Ann Arbor alumna was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 2014 for innovative job creation and manufacturing ingenuity, the Michigan Business Women Hall of Fame and Michigan Minority Business Hall of Fame in 2017, and the international business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma in 2019.