Renée Marie Roth’s professional endeavors began when she was still in high school and had a part-time job at a mail processing company. Upon graduation, she was offered a managerial position, but she declined in favor of pursuing further education. Joining Grand Valley State University, she completed a Bachelor of Science in health professions with a minor in psychology while working for Louis Padnos Iron & Metal Co., where she garnered first-hand experience in policies, procedures and hiring. She achieved her degree in 2008 and began work with a small company, where she was responsible for running the office. Ms. Roth owned and operated her own company for a time as well.
With considerable experience in leadership, office management, problem solving, organizing operations and property management to her credit, Ms. Roth and her husband founded Hillside Investments, a boutique real estate investment firm, in 2014 with just three partners, herself, her husband and an accountant. Her background made her the perfect person to run the office and she has held the title of director of administration, treasury management, information technology and human resources for Hillside Investments since 2015. Today, Hillside Investments has grown to include 30 employees working in their accounting, administration, construction and management departments.
Hillside Investments specializes in the buying, selling, building, developing and managing of commercial real estate. One of their recent projects was building a new facility for Webasto, a supplier for the Ford Motor Company, which they accomplished in record time, bringing 400 new jobs to Plymouth, Michigan. In addition to building new facilities, they also do renovations and development for existing properties. Looking toward the future, Ms. Roth notes that they have some very big aspirations for growing the company and already have a number of projects, totaling $250 million, lined up for the next two years. Living by the motto, “Work smarter, not harder,” she is very proud that they were able to move Hillside Investments into a brand new building right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Due to her expertise in a wide range of different areas, from operations to technology to banking, Ms. Roth’s work provides a vital cohesion for Hillside Investments as she can liaise and provide assistance to all of their various departments. In addition, she attributes much of their success to their highly talented team as well as to her own ability to take on a wide range of tasks and duties. Throughout her career, she has been perpetually motivated by her love of learning and she intends to keep learning as much as she can moving forward. Ms. Roth hopes to leave a legacy as someone who was easy to work with, good at what she did and a skilled problem-solver.
Alongside her primary career responsibilities, Ms. Roth is an active member of her community. Since 2011, she has been a volunteer with the Friendship Circle of Michigan and has also spent time with the Detroit Crime Commission. Additionally, she has been involved with Temple Israel’s sisterhood for many years and chairs the board for their annual charity function, The House Tour. The House Tour was established by Ms. Roth’s mother-in-law nearly 30 years ago. Happily married to her husband, a third generation builder, for many years, she is also proud to be the stepmother to four wonderful children. In her free time, Ms. Roth enjoys spending time with her family, whitewater rafting, horseback riding, slide-fishing, snowboarding and wakeboarding, and she is also a certified race car driver.