“The will to be successful is very strong in that family,” Eric Peterson, General Motors U.S. vice president-diversity, told Black Enterprise. “Jenell (Ross, the dealership’s chief executive) is a student of the business, and I know she’s learned a lot from her parents and now she’s putting it to good use.”
“Our auto dealer of the year, Bob Ross Buick/GMC and Mercedes-Benz is a profile in the strength and tenacity of a family business,” the magazine said.
Company founder Robert Ross Sr. died in 1997. Ross was the first graduate of General Motors’ Minority Dealer Academy and the first African-American Mercedes-Benz dealer in the world. Earlier this year, the business received the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award.
The magazine ranked the dealership No. 30 on its “BE Auto Dealers” list.