A. GEORGE HEBEL III:
 
A GEORGE HEBEL III




 
 
 
 
 
Chairman, President and CEO of Bonal Technologies Inc. in Royal Oak, the world’s leading provider of non-thermal metal stress relief and weld conditioning technology. Hebel co-founded the company in 1984 to further develop and market the technology and equipment that he had developed. The technology, Meta-Lax, substitutes for heat treatment and therefore reduces energy consumption and treatment time by 98 percent while increasing the performance and longevity of the metal parts. The equipment is used in various metal stress relief applications from space shuttle parts to aircraft carriers, auto parts and tooling to mining equipment, rifles, and pistols to Army cannons. The company started selling internationally in the 1980s and the equipment is now sold in more than 50 countries. Bonal received a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Inventions and Innovation Program in 1989 to further research and develop the Meta-Lax process and track its energy savings. In 2002, Hebel was honored by Entrepreneurs for Energy Efficiency Inc. for successfully commercializing Meta-Lax’s energy savings as a result of the grant. A finalist for the 2008 Ernst & Young Central Great Lakes Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Hebel holds several patents in metalworking. He is a member of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, American Welding Society, ASM International (American Society of Metals), Entrepreneurs for Energy Efficiency, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Detroit Chamber. Hebel received his associate’s degree in mechanical technology from Lawrence Technological University.


WHERE BORN: "Highland Park."

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: "My father – an innovator himself who always tried to push the idea of not accepting the norm and if you have a problem, figure it out and be creative. He taught me a lot about creativity."

LAST BOOK READ: "Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It’s about Abraham Lincoln.”

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: "Creative."

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: "The metalworking industry has a lot of new innovations, new materials, and new processing techniques. Metalworking has a great, bright future, and I feel that the United States will lead the way in metalworking innovations."

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: "There are so many with kids using them to stay connected 24/7. They’re fascinating devices and the drawback is that interrelationships with other people can be lost if they rely too much on them. I like my solitude time so I don’t have a BlackBerry."

FAVORITE PLACE: "I have a home in northern Michigan on Mullett Lake and a home in Florida and I love them both. Playing golf in January is great."

FAVORITE HOBBIES: "My biggest hobby has been home improvement and remodeling jobs. My wife was in real estate and she’d get good buys on houses and we’d fix them up together."

FAVORITE FOOD: "Just about any kind of seafood."

MY HIDDEN TALENT: "I’m a ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of guy. I do have abilities as far as residential building. There’s not too much opportunity to show home improvement talent in the metalworking industry."

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: "As a good father and grandfather. All else doesn’t count. You’re doing what you can to help society and make a living and what you leave behind are kids and grandkids. Lincoln said the only legacy you leave behind is family."


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.