Sabah Mansour Hermiz Summa
Founder of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce
By Dr. Adhid Miri
Leaders, pioneers, and achievers deserve celebration and recognition. They are our foundation, anchors, and pillars. They serve as a guiding force toward an advanced and progressive society, as catalysts for passing wisdom to the new generation, and they inspire individuals to become their best selves.
Today many Iraqi Chaldeans and community leaders showcase these characteristics of strength inspiring the broader community members to pursue their dreams and live a life journey that is accomplished and rewarding.
In this article we shed light on the success story of a Chaldean contributor and catalyst who embarked on a creative venture with limited resources and against difficult odds.
Sabah Mansour Hermiz Summa is a living example of a personal journey marked by determination and accomplishments. We write about him using his historic records in the context of his time and his generation as a founder of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce (CACC).
Personal biography
Sabah Summa was born in Tel-Keppe on May 15, 1944, to a large family, the oldest son of 4 brothers and 4 sisters. As a child he grew up in Baqouba and Shamiyya in southern Iraq, due to his father’s work, and for his high school years he resided in Baghdad. His parents, Mansour Hermiz Summa and Bijara Yousif Mikhana, were natives of Tel-Keppe/Nineveh Province.
Sabah was married to the late Kathleen Murry Casey, whom he met at Wayne State University, in 1969. The couple were blessed with 3 sons: Laith, Faris, and Shawn. After the sad passing of Kathleen in 2010, Sabah married his current bride, Nazdar Bashar Garabet, in 2011.
Sabah is a native-born Iraqi who speaks, reads, and writes fluent Arabic, Chaldean (Aramaic) and English. He arrived in the United States in 1968 and became a US citizen in 1971. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and one of the founders of the Iraqi American Graduates Association (IAGA); member and past officer of the Chaldean Iraqi American Association of Michigan (CIAAM); and founder and first Chairman of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce in Michigan (CACC).
Education
Sabah’s early primary education was in the cities of Baqouba and Shamiyya in Iraq, and he attended high school at Al-Markazia (Central High School) in Baghdad.
Sabah M. Hermiz, P.E. is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan and the state of Florida, and he holds the following degrees: a diploma in Civil Engineering from Baghdad University in Baghdad, Iraq (1961-1965); B.S. - Civil Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan (1969-1970); and an M.S. in Civil Engineering - Major Structure from Wayne State University (1970-1972).
Work history
After graduation from the University of Baghdad, Sabah served in the Iraqi Army as 2nd Lieutenant Engineer in charge of the airport, plus road construction and maintenance projects for the Al Habbaniya military base in Iraq.
There is no denying that Sabah Summa was a visionary in his early days and that he had an extreme desire to further his education. He left Iraq when he was 24 years old, seeking work in other countries to save money for travel to the United States to further his education.
Sabah started his career in Kuwait where he landed a position with the well-known Construction & Trading Company (CAT) of Lebanon as Project Engineer, building three mosques in the city of Kuwait. Afterwards, he was transferred to Saudi Arabia to be part of the engineering staff for the construction of a 110-mile road project starting on the outskirts of Medina.
In the United States, after his graduation from Wayne State University in Detroit, he worked for the city of Pontiac on the design of both local and federally funded projects, including the major separation of combined sewers and the road designs surrounding the Silverdome during the stadium construction.
For the next six years Sabah also worked for several architectural and engineering firms in the Detroit area, as a structural engineer for the design of buildings and various industrial projects.
Detroit Edison
In January 1978, Sabah joined Detroit Edison (DTE) as structural engineer; he worked with DTE until he took an early retirement in August of 2001.
Sabah built a diverse and illustrious career at DTE, serving as Senior Engineer and Work Leader for the structural design of the company’s fossil and Fermi II nuclear plants, in addition to the substations and general facilities’ design work.
In 1997, he was selected to be a marketing executive for DTE, with a mission to provide support to the ethnic business community and the tools needed for their success. His purpose was to engage the new generation and enrich the lifestyle of both individuals and their communities, by presenting opportunities as well as projects with Chaldean related interest, and community events which appealed and impacted DTE customers. During his last four years with DTE, he served as the Marketing Executive in the DTE Ethnic Marketing Organization, servicing the needs of Chaldean American customers.
Sabah recognized the importance of community organization. He had both vision and a passion for planning. He held a desire to help others in the Chaldean community and he believed that organizations must prepare for tomorrow, must hold a vision of the future, and must follow up with action.
While at DTE, Sabah noticed that various ethnic groups and minorities had organized themselves into business groups and alliances - such as the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Arabic Chamber of Commerce, along with numerous African American business groups. These groups demanded their share of business from the government and corporate America. And they were getting it.
Sabah realized the time had come to create a Chaldean Business Alliance (CBA) to enhance our community business opportunities within Michigan and the United States, and to work with all other organizations to present and promote the Chaldean community’s interests and businesses. This was the start of the Chaldean Business Alliance (CBA) which eventually led to establishment of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce (CACC).
Chaldean Business Alliance (CBA)
The idea of creating the Chaldean Business Alliance (CBA) had been on the mind of Sabah Summa for some time while working at DTE.
When Sabah shared his idea of creating the CBA with his close friend Dave Nona, initially Dave was not in favor of the idea, stating “We have already too many Chaldean organizations that are competing without any benefit to our community.”
As Sabah recalls, convincing Dave was not an easy task. Dave insisted that three conditions be satisfied before proceeding: the first was raising enough seed money to support the organization for one year; second was recruiting a strong executive director; and the third condition was forming a good board of directors. With that decided upon, both Sabah and Dave moved into recruiting a committee to investigate the idea.
The message to the community was clear - it needed to change some of its ideas and organize itself to meet the challenges for the future. What worked in the past might not work well in the future, and methods must be modified.
There was a lack of effectiveness in the existing organizations, and the new alliance was intended to bring all professional organizations together and focus on one objective: business.
The group had an ambitious agenda that included seeking funds and grants for worthwhile community projects such as the Chaldean Federation of America (CFA) and the Chaldean American Ladies of Charity (CALC). They also hoped to provide business opportunities within the larger community, the government, and corporations.
They hoped to develop business opportunities in areas with large Chaldean populations, such as the 7 Mile Corridor, Oak Park, and Southfield areas. They wanted to help find job opportunities for new immigrants, to support members of the community who held political ambitions, to encourage politicians to appoint prominent members of the community to different positions and boards, and to provide a positive model to young people to identify with the Chaldean community and to step up to future leadership roles.
Major concerns were the fact that Chaldeans do not meet the minority requirements for corporate America, and that organizations such as the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and Arab-American Chaldean Council (ACC) were using the Chaldean name for their own benefit. The plan was to get the Chaldean name out and to differentiate between Chaldeans and Arab organizations, and to create a good track record with the corporate world and government agencies.
A meeting was held at Southfield Manor in 1999, attended by Mike George, the Board of Directors of the Associated Food Dealers (AFD), and about 25 other businesspeople from within the club community. The AFD management was initially resistant to the formation of this new entity and considering it to be a threat to its mission and a competition that would split the business community. This argument was quickly dismissed as the AFD focused strictly on the grocery sector, while the new organization would serve our evolving business community which was much larger and more diverse.
The agreement was finally reached between Sabah Summa and Frank Arcori who represented the Association Food Dealers (AFD) that both organizations would work together and share membership.
Lack of support and commitment to the Chaldean Business Alliance (CBA) concept sidelined the initiative; however, the objective proved to be a bridge to the next big idea, the formation of the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce (CACC) in 2003.
Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce (CACC)
A “kick off” meeting was held to explore launching the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce (CACC). Some 50 community members were invited to this informal meeting held on July 10, 2002. Joe Sarafa and Mike Sarafa, along with other members of the AFD board, were to meet with Chaldean Chamber members, Sabah Hermiz Summa, Sam Yono, and Dave Nona to discuss a working relationship between the two organizations.
This group decided to hold a general meeting within the Chaldean community to discuss the formation of the Chamber by March 2003 and to present an outline of activities. The first quarterly networking meeting for CACC and AFD was held on February 11, 2004.
The initial financial assistance came from members who each donated five to ten thousand dollars. They were considered the Founding and Lifetime members of CACC: Ron Acho, Najib and Salim Atisha, Carl Dallo, John and Chris Denha, Jalal and Jason Garmo, Frank Jaddou, Jamal Kalabat, Waad and Joey Murad, Amer and Jason Najor, Dave Nona, Wisam Paulus, Mazin Samona, and Bassim and Mazin Shina.
Many of the first board members such as Martin Manna, Saad Hajar, and Sabah Summa himself, along with others (unfortunately the complete list of all the names could not be found) also donated a thousand dollars each to support the Chamber start up.
Marketing
In June 2003, the Chamber was finally formed and was recognized as the voice of the Chaldean American business community. The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce contracted Interlink Media, owned by Martin Manna, to direct and to manage the daily operations of Chamber, with Manna as Executive Director of the Chamber.
Interlink Media was tasked to help attract new members, launch public relations campaigns, assist in the development and rollout of services that included hosting positive networking engagements, and service the daily needs of the new members. The first objective was to attract 400 members by the end of 2004.
The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce’s first election was held in June 2003 and Sabah Hermiz Summa was selected as the first Chairman of this organization.
The second Board of Directors election was held on November 10, 2004. The new Board of Directors held a meeting on November 23, 2004, to elect the 2005 Executive Officers: Sabah Hermiz Summa, Chairman; Najib Attisha, Executive Vice Chairman; Saad Hajjar, Vice Chairman; Anthony Mona, Treasurer; Wendy Acho, Secretary; Bassam Salman, Executive Committee Member; and Martin Manna, Executive Director of the Chamber.
In a short time, the CACC grew from a handful of founders to nearly 400 members in 2005 and to over 1,000 individuals and corporations by 2020.
2019 was a year of transformation for the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. For the first time in its history, it surpassed the 1,000-member mark.
The Chamber leadership was instrumental in the introduction of a new bill, HR 2537, otherwise known as the ‘Bill to Delay Deportation of Iraqi Nationals.’ Working with compatriots within the national and international scene to make sure that our community is recognized and to aid valuable communities abroad, the Chamber continues to work for the betterment of our community here in Michigan and for our brethren back in Iraq.
The CACC mission to build business, build relationships, and build community, and its successes led to further accomplishments with the establishment of the Chaldean Community Foundation (CCF) in 2011.
Iraq in my heart
Despite the long separation from Iraq, Sabah is still attached to his Iraqi and Middle Eastern roots and wants to give back and share his expertise.
“Iraq is my country of origin, and I am proud to be a member of this Iraqi Chaldean community in the United States. My heart lies within Iraq where I was born and grew up. I went in 2009 and with the hope of being able to contribute and somehow help our unfortunate people that were still living through an unmerciful time of wars and conflicts.
“The greatest service to my motherland will be for the United States to do the things by which Iraq’s name, fame and future will be raised up.”
Reflection on a life journey
Sabah proudly speaks about his life journey. “I was strengthened and influenced by my deeply religious first wife of 41 years, Kathleen, and our beautiful life together where she blessed me with three wonderful sons: Laith, Faris and Shawn, whom I am proud of - both for their personalities and accomplishments - and grateful to my lovely second wife, Nazdar, that came into my life to give me peace and joy when most needed.
“In this, I am grateful in my attitude to focus on the journey, not the destination.”
Looking back on Sabah Summa’s vision, determination, and decision to start the Chaldean Chamber of Commerce (CACC) in yesterday’s fast-moving business environment means many things today. It is all about forging a new path for community members and others amidst challenges and pessimism and so much more.
As we continue to feature our pioneers and write these articles, perhaps those individuals that have inspired me might also inspire you.
Special editing by Jacqueline Raxter and Dave Nona.
First Board of Directors of the Chamber in 2004