Sylvester Hester brings the experience and knowledge of manufacturing and logistics in multiple business verticals: Automotive, Aerospace, and the government sector, just to name a few. Mr. Hester is Chairman of Global Automotive Alliance. GAA consists of six companies: ARD Logistics, Global SQ, Grupo Antolin Primera, Key Logistics, STM-LM, and Vitec. These two manufacturing, four logistics, and companies employ more than 2,300 people. GAA has earned a reputation for providing quality manufacturing and exceptional Supply Chain Management to aerospace, automotive, food & beverage, pharmaceutical and government business operations.
His impressive career began in 1985, as an engineering technician for General Motors Advanced Engineering. In 1987, Hester joined Michigan’s Regal Plastics and he quickly moved up the ranks from engineering to program management, through sales and marketing, and finally rising to vice president in 1993. In 1998, Hester was selected to serve as president of GAA’s company, ARD, near Atlanta, Georgia. By 2003 he co-founded and was named president of GAA’s newest acquisition, Key Logistics. Today Hester is chairman of all GAA companies, and CEO of Grupo Antolin Primera.
Most recently, Hester has been named as the president of GAA’s advisory board of directors, and he has been appointed to the Tuskegee University Board of Trustees. He is a member of the board of the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association, the Southern Region Minority Supplier Development Council and Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council as Chair of the MBEIC Manufacturing and Mobility sector.
Hester holds a Master of Science in Administration degree, with concentration in leadership, from Central Michigan University, and a Bachelor of Science in Plastics Engineering with an emphasis in polymer chemistry from Ferris State University. He has completed the Advanced Minority Business Executive Program at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, the Kellogg School of Management Advanced Management Education Program at Northwestern University, and the Quantum Shift Program at The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.