Ron Hall Sr., brilliant businessman and committed community leader, impacted the city of Detroit in a manner that will be difficult to replicate. The remarkably handsome figure of a man had that special quality, “that thing,” which garnered him high respect from his peers and made him one of the most beloved community leaders in recent times.
The founder, chairman and former CEO of the Detroit-based automotive firm Bridgewater Interiors LLC, died on Tuesday, May 31, and his passing leaves a chasmic void in Detroit’s business and civic circles. Fortunately, Hall’s legacy of creating opportunity and possibility for Minority Business Enterprises will remain intact as the former leader of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council leaves an extraordinary blueprint for aspiring business leaders and emerging entrepreneurs.
Longtime friend and business partner Bill Pickard said Hall was a man of remarkable talent and humanity.
“Here is a guy who was a math major with a 4.0 GPA when we were students at Western Michigan University. He was tall, dark and handsome and got along with everybody, from the guys from Flint to Paw Paw, Michigan. He treated everyone the same. He treated everyone with kindness and compassion.”
Hall was nationally recognized for his keen business acumen and incomparable integrity, and in the sometimes dog-eat-dog world of business, he was revered for relentlessly championing the underdog.
“Ron and I became good friends when I transferred to Western Michigan University in 1963,” recalled former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer Sr. “About the time he became CEO of the MMBDC, I was becoming mayor of Detroit. … When I signed Executive Order 4 to require the City of Detroit to do up to 30 percent of its purchases with businesses in Detroit, to make sure that order was properly implemented and followed, I reached out to Ron Hall.”
Ron Hall was authentically kind, gracious and caring. Few business leaders in Detroit’s business community have had the impact and left the footprint that Hall did.
After saving the struggling MMBDC, Hall went on to personally and professionally dedicate himself to saving MBEs across the region. As his close personal friend Dr. Bill Pickard put it, when Pickard found himself facing daunting business challenges, Hall stepped up and assured him he would not allow him to fail.
“Let’s not make easy hard,” Pickard recalls Hall saying.
Prior to Hall’s tenure at the MMBDC, efforts by minority-based businesses in Detroit were thwarted by a seemingly insurmountable lack of resources and access to technology.
“At the time, there were no minority businesses with annual sales of more than $75 million and they were mostly local operations with little or no advance technology. Ron sensed that major customers were moving towards larger, global suppliers who had the capacity to deliver systems and not just components,” explained Hall’s business partner, Alex Parrish. “But with Ron’s leadership, a number of us helped minority businesses through joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, private equity deals and complex corporate finance transactions.”
Detroit and the MMBDC now boast a significant number of MBEs with hundreds of millions in annual sales, expanded global reach and advance technology, thanks in large part to Hall and friends.
Among Hall’s greatest accomplishments:
- Founded Bridgewater, a joint venture between Epsilon Technologies LLC and Johnson Controls Inc., in November 1998 and served as its top executive until October 2015 when he became chairman and was replaced by his son, Ron Hall Jr.
- Grew the minority-owned venture into a more than $2 billion supplier of automotive seating parts with more than 2,000 employees and plants in Detroit, Warren, Lansing and Estaboga, Ala. Those plants support seating platforms for Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Honda Motor Co. Ltd.
- Served as president and CEO of equipment leasing company Renaissance Capital Alliance and was former chairman and CEO of New Center Stamping.
- Owned the travel agency Departure Travel Management.
- From 1992 to 1998 served as president of the Michigan Minority Supplier Business Development Council.
- Served on the boards of Fifth Third Bank’s local operations, Boy Scouts of America Southeast Michigan, American Diabetes Association, Booker T. Washington Business Association and the former Detroit Renaissance (now Business Leaders for Michigan).
- Played an active role in business and civic organizations across the state, including Business Leaders for Michigan, the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce, and the National Athletic Amateur Union.
- Past community engagements included service on the board of St. John Hospital, board chair of the American Diabetes Association of Michigan, and a board member for Southeastern Michigan Junior Achievement.
- Appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the board of trustees at his alma mater, Western Michigan University, in 2012. His term was to run through 2020.
“Very few people know this, but Ron Hall was approved to become a McDonald’s franchisee. But when [corporate] told him that he would have to leave Detroit, Ron and I met the next day and he said, ‘Pick. I can’t leave Detroit,’ and he didn’t,” said Pickard.
A natural negotiator and skilled mediator, Pickard jokes that Hall became known as the Henry Kissinger of business.
“We made investments together, including Real Times Media. If you buy a newspaper in Chicago or Atlanta or Pittsburgh, eventually the locals want more control and more input. So when [a problem needed solving] we would say, ‘I guess it’s time for Henry Kissinger to go work this out,’ and he was always successful,” Pickard said.
Beloved and widely recognized for his love and support of Detroit and its citizens, friends and associates touted his willingness to listen, and listen intently, for his success and popularity.
“He was the best listener I knew. One thing about Ron set him apart from many business leaders; he passionately wanted everyone he was involved with to succeed,” said Parrish. “He was willing to defer or even sacrifice his own success to achieve that.”
Hall’s reputation for excellence and reliability resulted in his being asked to replicate his feats on the national stage.
“General Motors reached out and asked Ron to work with Johnson Controls to do a joint venture and as a result of it, the company led Black Enterprise in terms of being one of the largest, if not the largest, African American business in the United States,” said Archer.
“Ron’s passing leaves a big hole, not only for those who worked with him, but for our entire community. He was an extraordinarily good and sensitive man with so much passion for helping others. We will miss him the most for that,” said Parrish.
Hall, a man of intellect and integrity, leaves a legacy that will not soon be forgotten, and his impact on Detroit and the people of the city he loved so much will be felt for many generations to come.
“Ron Hall Sr. was always teaching us to do things the right way. Even in death, he showed us the importance of great family planning,” added Roy Roberts, Hall’s friend and business associate. “Dr. Pickard said it best; God made some men good and some great. Clearly, He gave Ron Hall Sr. a generous portion of both.”
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