Rosses: Influential dealer family pays it forward

Jenell Ross, president of Bob Ross Auto Group in Centerville, Ohio, is a trailblazer and influential dealer in her own right.

The second-generation retailer became the first Black dealer to chair the American International Automobile Dealers Association in 2013 and she chaired the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Cincinnati branch. She also sits on other boards of companies such as Cars.com, even as she advocates for the development of more women and minorities as both dealers and employees in retail automotive.

But it was her parents, Bob and Norma Ross, who first trod the career path that Jenell has traveled.

Bob started in the retail auto industry in 1962 selling cars at Shannon Buick in Dayton, Ohio, and was in the first class of dealer hopefuls enrolled in General Motors' Minority Dealer Academy, in 1972, according to Ross.

Norma was an elementary school teacher and a curriculum consultant in the Dayton Public School system. In the 1980s, she started a program at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, that helped students prepare for taking SAT exams.

In 1974, Bob's dream became reality when he acquired Vivian Buick, Opal and International Harvester Trucks in the couple's hometown of Richmond, Ind.

Five years later, he sold the Richmond store and purchased Davis Buick and Mercedes-Benz in Centerville and renamed it Bob Ross Buick and Mercedes-Benz.

That purchase made him the country's first Black Mercedes-Benz dealer, the automaker has confirmed. Bob added a GMC franchise in 1982. Bob was part of the Mercedes-Benz dealer council and was active in dealer associations including the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers and the Dayton Area Auto Dealers Association where he held the top office.

Like many dealers' kids, Jenell worked at the family business in high school and college, mostly in its accounting department. Her first real job after college was creating and setting up the stores' customer relations department.

Jenell, who was named one of Automotive News' 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry in 2020, said she always knew she would eventually take over the family business but thought her father would be there to teach and show her the ropes.

But Bob died unexpectedly in 1997 at the age of 62. The family was devastated but determined to keep the business.

Norma became the group's president, and Jenell, then 27, became its dealer principal in charge of day-to-day operations. Son and brother Robert Jr. became the group's fixed-operations director.

A "blessing" of the situation was that Bob Ross had assembled a skilled and loyal management team that stayed on and assisted the new leadership team, Jenell said.

Jenell and her mom led the stores together until Norma died of breast cancer in April 2010.

That same year, Jenell created the Norma J. Ross Memorial Foundation that has a two-fold mission. One is to provide funding for programs that raise breast cancer awareness, assist underserved women affected by breast cancer and conduct breast cancer research. It also provides support for local youth education programs.