Bill Ford looked around at the historic waiting room of Michigan Central Station, now called the Grand Hall, a once-crumbling building restored to its 1913 grandeur. The floor is polished marble, the columns stone. This is what his mother saw when she took the train to see her sister in New York so many years ago.
“She has very vivid memories of this,” Bill Ford said of his mother, Martha Firestone Ford, born in 1925 and the matriarch of industrial royalty that has invested heavily in Detroit over three generations. “I think I only took one trip as a child out of here with my family. I wish I could tell you I have great memories of it. I don’t really. I have a vague impression of the platform and what the train looked like as it pulled up.”
Bill Ford, 67, executive chair of Ford Motor Co., is the great-grandson of founder Henry Ford. He is also the visionary behind the resurrection of the train station at 2001 15th St. in Corktown, abandoned since 1988. The site is seared into the memories of soldiers — and their families — who went off to war and came home on those trains. While Ford and his team plan for the grand reopening June 6 that’s expected to draw tens of thousands of onlookers just the first day, he has been spending weekends leading up the event babysitting for his two grandchildren who live in Birmingham.
“They’re a blast,” he said laughing. “But there’s also a reason why young people have children and not people my age. Because they’re nonstop. Having said that, I love it.”
While Bill Ford has memories of playing as a child in the company design center, he hasn’t yet brought the 3- and 5-year-old children to visit Michigan Central yet. This investment from the automaker, he said, is for them.
This project is for all children who will grew up in and around Detroit.
“I’ve been here my entire life,” Ford told the Detroit Free Press. “Secondly, my family has had — from the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts) to Henry Ford Health System to Henry Ford Museum to Ford Field — so much commitment to this area. In my case, I also did the Rouge,” a reference to rejuvenating the legendary factory in Dearborn.
“It just always felt like you couldn’t have a strong and vibrant company if you didn’t have a strong and vibrant community around it. Also, I love this city. It always pained me when our national reputation was less than great. I always felt if I was in a position to help change that, I would. And I feel like I am in that position now, and, hopefully we can do that.”
Skeptics challenged plan and price tag
Ford spent $950 million to develop the 30-acre campus, transforming and redeveloping multiple properties in Corktown, according to company spokesman Dan Barbossa. The automaker declined to reveal the cost of restoring Michigan Central Station alone, instead bundling costs that include the Albert Kahn-designed Book Depository next door at 2050 15th St. That three-story, 270,000-square-foot building first opened in 1936 as a U.S. Post Office and later was a warehouse for Detroit Public Schools. After sitting unused for about three decades, it opened last year with workspaces and studios for mobility-focused companies and technologies.
So far, 97 startups are based at what’s now called Newlab at Michigan Central, with more than 600 employees unrelated to Ford as of mid-May, spokesman Dan Austin told the Free Press. By the end of this year, Ford expects to have 1,000 Ford employees working at Newlab, the train station and what was once an old hosiery factory in Corktown, with plans to grow to 2,500 employees by 2028.
During the past six years, some shareholders and investors have questioned whether the massive project was merely a distraction or a vanity project. Ford said it’s all part of a strategic plan.
“If you want to attract the best talent, you have to provide two things: You have to give them some really interesting and difficult problems to solve. And, two, you have to give them a great place to work,” Ford said. “So, coming here, you can do both. Because we’ll be working on the future of transportation and mobility … along with the startup companies that are next door. This will be an amazing test bed.”
In addition, Ford said, the company owns the airspace around the enormous campus, allowing for use of drones and personal flying vehicles known as VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) machines. That means working on things such as last-mile delivery of packages, which is crucial to Amazon, for example, and interactive robots and drones.
Fighting the battle for talent, not ceding to Silicon Valley
“This really is where we will win our war for talent,” Ford said. “This company, and this industry, is in a war for talent. I think every company is. And getting that talent to come to Detroit has not always been easy because of the reputation of our city in the past.”
Also, being located in the middle of the country makes it hard to get Californians or East Coasters to even think about working in Detroit, he said. “Fortunately, now though, the reputation of the city is changing dramatically. We’re growing as a city. … We had a great event with the NFL draft, which showcased the city in a great national light. It is getting easier. But then you show them this. Then you say, ‘This is where not only can you work but where you can help invent the future.’ I think this will be a huge help to us in terms of the war for talent.”
By contrast, Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, in mid-May announced the launch of a 50,000-square-foot innovation hub in Mountain View, California, the heart of Silicon Valley, to capture tech talent.
Ford has had a presence in California for years but the company refuses to accept that Detroit can’t compete. A company with family ties brings with it a different kind of strength and stability, Ford said.
“I think it gives us a set of values that are enduring,” he said. “Part of it is making our community a better place.”
How a family company is different than others
Ford questioned whether any other automaker would have or could have executed the audacious plan.
“I don’t know that a non-family company would have taken this leap to do a building like this, which requires a longer-term vision. Because I think a lot of executives have a time frame that’s five years, six years, seven years, or less, and therefore they often don’t want to take on things that are gonna be beyond their tenure,” Ford said. “I feel like I’m working for my children and my grandchildren. Because of that, I want to leave the strongest Ford Motor Company I can to them that’s ready for the next century. I think that’s different. I believe, too, that everything we’ve talked about today in terms of what we’ve done to give back to the community very much reflects our family values.”
Despite the costly and overwhelming obstacles, which included millions of gallons of floodwater in the basement that delayed the project more than a year, Ford said he never could have given up and shut down the effort begun after the company purchased the train station back in 2018.
“I expected challenges. When we got in here, it was worse than we thought,” he said. “Once we got into each room and each area, in many cases the damage was much worse than we thought. Also, during the restoration, there often wasn’t much left to work with. In some rooms, you just had a corner of a molding. In others, you would just have a tile or two and that would be it. … A few rooms there were old photographs we could work from. … It was really a tough, tough job, but it was well worth it.”
Ford hosted a private celebration for workers at the train station, an event closed to the media.
“I’m so happy with how it turned out. The men and women who worked here, they just did such a magnificent job. It was really fun for me to come down here during construction and talk to them because for many of them, it was the high-water mark of their career. They felt so energized and proud to be working on a project like this. You can see the care they took. It’s just beautiful,” Ford said. “I think all the promise we thought of in 2018 will be delivered when this opens.”
Bill Ford: Not a desk jockey
He said he, like most Detroit residents, is curious to see how the building ultimately will be used.
“One thing I have no feel for today is, when this is all full of people and full of life, where will be the fun and active place that I’m gonna want to be? I can’t wait to find out,” Ford said. “I’ll have an office here but I won’t sit behind any desk. It’ll be a place where I can throw a coat so I can run around here. I don’t ever envision myself sitting for any spell here. I want to be where the people are. I want to be where the action is. I want to be where the public is having fun and smiling and enjoying themselves. I want to ask them what we could do better. I want to talk to our engineers and our scientists who are working on the future and find out what they’re doing. And again, can we do more to help them on their journey? Yes, I’ll be here a lot but I don’t think I’ll be sitting behind a desk.”
Skepticism surrounding the Michigan Central Station project reminded him of the Ford Field project, which opened in 2002, people worried that fans wouldn’t have places to go before or after games because Detroit was struggling. Looking back on the project, he sees similarities. Few can imagine the Detroit Lions playing anywhere but downtown now. In fact, all pro sports are played in the heart of the city.
‘There’s a waiting list’
Years of watching and listening has led to this point in time, Ford said. He initially started with wanting to restore the train station and eventually expanded what was possible. Now the former book depository and train station complement each other.
“You know, I started that venture capital firm in 2009,” Ford said. “But one thing that became quickly apparent to me was, even though we were investing in a lot of interesting companies, there wasn’t much to invest in in Michigan.”
That’s how the book depository, known as Newlab, ended up being an incubator for startup companies, as well as having prototype capabilities, Ford said.
“There’s a waiting list to get in there,” he said, noting that half the 97 companies are from Michigan and the rest come from other parts of the country and the world. “We have to not just keep our talent here but attract new talent here. They’re doing that. Then when this is up and running, the ability for the companies that are here to work with these startup companies that are right next door will be fantastic.”
When venture capitalists from outside the market could see what was happening, really see it, rather than imagine what was possible, they started coming to visit, Ford said.
“It’s the beginning of the flywheel that you need here,” Ford said. “You need startups. You need funding for those startups. And then you need customers for those startups. For the first time, we have all of that and it’s all right here.”
What does the future hold for the family?
Bill Ford, who has held the role of CEO, is one of many family members who have held and hold positions within the company. He sees the next generation, including a daughter, sons and nephew continuing the legacy.
“I certainly hope so,” Ford said. “That’s why I’m so happy that Alexandra (Ford English) and Henry (Ford III) are on the board. If Will wants to have a career here, that would be great. I have a younger son who’s just graduating from business school, and if he’d like to come here, that would be wonderful.”
He continued, “It’s funny, one time Alexandra said to me, ‘You know, why wouldn’t you ever really talk to us about working at Ford?’ I said, ‘Because it has to be your decision. I’d love it if you wanted to have that conversation, but I’m not going to ever initiate it. Because your heart has to be in it. It has to be what your passion is. If your passion is somewhere else, that’s fine, then go do it.’ But she wanted to do it. Will wants to do it. We’ll see about my youngest son.”
Spending time at the hockey rink
While his son Will played hockey at Princeton University, he doesn’t hit the ice much anymore. William Clay “Will” Ford III is traveling the globe as general manager at Ford Performance. But William Clay “Bill” Ford Jr. still makes time for hockey.
“We kind of take the summer off. We lose a lot of guys to golf. Not me. I’m not a golfer,” Bill Ford said. “Once we start up in the fall, if I’m in town, I could play three days a week. But it’s usually twice a week. I usually play forward or center or right wing. It’s just a lot of fun. I’m in the Ford 45-and-over league. I’m 67 and think I’m the oldest guy in the league. But it all works. I just love getting to know the guys. A lot work in our plants. Some work in our offices. It’s a mixed bag.”
A team of six went to Lake Placid, New York, for a tournament this winter, including a top union guy, Ford said. “We don’t talk business when we’re playing hockey. We just hang out as friends. But to me, I don’t think of our employees as you’re union or you’re not. No, you’re a Ford employee and therefore you’re part of the greater Ford family. I’ve always believed that and I will always believe that.”
No plan to leave
Will Ford said his father is pretty much “what you see is what you get.”
“It’s the reason why he chooses to play hockey in the DISC (Dearborn Ice Skating Center) on Ford Road rather than join a bunch of fancy golf clubs. He’s a completely normal guy who happens to have a pretty interesting position in the world,” Will Ford said.
Bill Ford works closely with CEO Jim Farley, who took the helm in October 2020.
Ford has no plans for departure in the near term.
“I feel great. I love what I’m doing. But look, nobody lasts forever,” he said. “I also don’t want to be somebody who overstays his welcome. I have no plans to step away. … But, you know, I’m also cognizant of the fact that there will come a day where, um, it’s the right time. I think I’ll know when that time is. When that day comes, I don’t think I’ll have any regrets about stepping away.”
More: Ford reopened quarry to get exact limestone match for Michigan Central Station renovation
More: Bill Ford’s controversial viewpoint has changed Detroit automaker
Editor’s Note: The reporter’s husband worked on the train station as an electrician. And her great-great grandfather founded T.J. Wall & Sons paint company in Corktown in the 1800s.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bill Ford: I couldn’t give up on Michigan Central Station renovation
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