Profile: Johnathan Nelson

Last year, Johnathan Nelson was thrilled to stumble upon an automotive company at a University of California-Berkeley career fair.

“Lockheed Martin and Boeing are big recruiters,” said Nelson, 27, who got his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. “But I was always into cars so I was excited when Ford came.”

Nelson, who’d lived in Great Falls, Mont., and Oakland, Calif., before coming to Detroit, said moving was no big deal, even though it was the farthest east he’d ever been.

Detroit “has a lot of history and nostalgia behind it, like the ‘Motor City.’ If you’re into cars, this is the place to be.”

Nelson, who joined the company as a powertrain engineer last August, ended his search once he got the job offer.

Now living in Royal Oak with his wife, a Las Vegas native whom he married a month before the move, he says, “She wishes we were closer to family.” Meanwhile, her parents were a bit leery about the economy here. As the couple looks to buy a home, “They’re like: ‘Are you nuts?’” But as he sees it, especially coming from California, it’s a great time to buy. “I’m six months out of college and can afford a house.”