John Broad began his professional career in 1962 when he graduated from the University of Michigan with a Masters of Business Administration. After briefly working as a consultant/auditor at Arthur Anderson & Company in San Francisco, Broad made his way back to the motor city and began work as a financial analyst for General Motors.
After three years at General Motors, he purchased Broad Crane & Engineering Services Company from his father. During his time there, he was able to expand the company, which became The Broad Group, first in the United States and then internationally, increasing revenue from $300,000 to $80 million. The Broad Group of companies included a structural steel contractor that performed work in industrial plants in both the United States, Canada and Mexico; a company that was the largest builder of rack supported buildings for automatic storage & retrieval systems in the United States; and a design and build general contractor in Iowa. In 1999, he formed Broad AutoPark Systems in which he incorporated new technology to provide high-density automated parking facilities in very limited spaces.
Broad has been active for many years in community improvement. He started the Alliance for a Safer Greater Detroit as an affiliate of the Detroit Regional Chamber with a mission to reduce crime and the perception of crime in southeast Michigan. The signature project for the Alliance was the Freeway Courtesy Patrol which is now operated by the Michigan Department of Transportation. He also serves as the President of Crime Stoppers of Michigan since 2005. Crime Stoppers is the largest crime fighting organization in the world whose mission is to empower people to make their neighborhoods, schools and businesses safer through the anonymous reporting of crime. In 2012, more than 7,000 tips were forwarded to law enforcement through Crime Stoppers of Michigan, setting a new record.
Under his leadership, nineteen Detroit high schools implemented Campus Crime Stoppers programs, and he convinced more than 134 area churches to adopt the Crime Stoppers mission.
John is married and has four children. He lives in Grosse Pointe Farms.
