The following is a report by the University of Michigan Alumni Association.
When Jon Ferrando, ’88, decided to rebrand the recreational vehicle dealership business he founded, he wanted to include nods back to his alma mater.
Blue Compass RV’s logo features a familiar maize and blue color scheme, and the compass on it points from the company’s headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, right back to Ann Arbor.
“It has a lot of meaning within our industry and the lifestyle but also signals some of my connection back to Michigan,” Ferrando says with a smile.
Much of Ferrando’s life and career points back toward Ann Arbor as well. He describes his time at U-M as “foundational,” where he developed leadership skills and a standard of excellence. It’s also where he met his wife Katy Ferrando, ’88. The two have three children — all three are Wolverines themselves — and two dogs who are aptly named Maizey and Blu.
“I think most students that go there have this incredible experience similar to me — this life-changing opportunity. And it just creates and breeds a lot of connection and loyalty back to the Block M,” he says.
Those around Ferrando say he infuses the Leaders and Best mentality in everything he does, including building Blue Compass RV from scratch in 2018 to a business that draws $3 billion in annual revenue with more than 100 stores across 33 states.
Finding the RV Business
Ferrando grew up in a small town near Kalamazoo, Michigan, and arrived on the Ann Arbor campus as a first-generation college student. He excelled, joining LSA’s Honors Program while studying economics with an eye toward going to law school, and says he challenged himself while at U-M.
“If you take the hardest courses, you really do end up with a top-caliber Ivy League education on a fun Big Ten campus,” Ferrando says.
Following graduation, Ferrando went to Harvard Law, and became a corporate attorney. Soon, he found himself as a top executive at AutoNation, a burgeoning automotive dealership group. Ferrando spent 20 years as a leader at the company, helping it grow from a startup to one of the largest dealership groups in the U.S., but wanted to do something more entrepreneurial and looked at the RV market.
Click here to read the full report by Jeremy Carroll at the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan.
