It has been a year this month since Toyota moved into its new HQ in Plano and invested in new facilities in Michigan and Kentucky as part of the OneToyota initiative in the U.S. The moves were made for faster decision making, and ultimately create a better experience for our customers.

In a recent survey, a team member in Plano remarked that they “like collaborating with so many brilliant, helpful team members across many different departments. I feel like I am learning new things every day.” It is this level of engagement and access that the new model provides for our employees to better serve our customer’s needs.

Here’s a quick summary of how the three new additions under the OneToyota initiative have made an impact on their local communities:

• In Plano, Texas, for the first time ever, we have quality engineering, sales and marketing, financial services and corporate functions under one roof. Over the past three years, Toyota has partnered with more than 12 community partners in sustaining and impactful ways. Some of the partners include the North Texas Food bank, Children’s Health Dallas, Meals on Wheels and the Toyota Impact Grant.

• In Michigan, we expanded our R&D centers in May 2017 by building a new Purchasing and Prototype Development centers in York township and expanding the powertrain operations at the Ann Arbor campus. The Supplier Center captured 239,965 gallons of rainwater annually, generated 22% of the energy for the building and saved 50% annually from solar, geothermal and efficient systems.

• In Georgetown, Kentucky, the $80 million Production Engineering and Manufacturing Center (PEMC) opened in October 2017, to serve as the go-between for design and manufacturing. The PEMC team partnered with the community in both financial and in-kind ways to advance the future of STEM education, from partnering with SOAR STEM in more than 40 elementary schools to specifically designing a K-12 coding program with the Kentucky Science Center.

We have put together a short video about our One Toyota initiative and the impact each campus is making in their communities as we work create opportunities for collaboration. This has been of the most significant changes Toyota has taken to better serve its customers since opening a US sales office 61 years ago. It speaks to our efforts to create a more unified operation in North America for the next 50 years and beyond.