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With a name like "Precision Collision" attached to a body shop, images of wrecked cars on their way to rehab may come to mind.
Although that image is accurate, it's really only half the story. The same precision invested in transforming severely damaged
vehicles to like-new condition has sparked another line of business rarely tapped by most in the auto body industry.
Lynn Keenan, office manager/co-owner of Precision Collision LLC in Winter Haven, Fla., says that while auto body repair is
the "bread and butter," restoration of vintage vehicles has fast become a "passion" for her shop, not to mention the driver
of 25 percent of the business.
The eight-employee collision repair facility has built a name within the community for the past 30 years by doing basic prep
and body work for practically every car imaginable. That's been the goal of Precision Collision since Lynn's husband, Rob,
got the business rolling with his original partner, Jack Defeo, nearly three decades ago.
According to Lynn, cars are really all Rob has known his entire life. As a young adult, Rob began working for a large trucking
outfit and started doing repair work on the vehicles. He was moved into the paint shop and found out he had a talent. During
that time, he spent his free time building racecars. To this day, that passion continues to occupy a chunk of his day, and
his restoration work has garnished trophies in local shows.
Defeo entered the picture when he and Rob were working for a wholesale dealer. During that job stint, "they put their heads
together and decided they would strike out on their own," Lynn says. "Soon, they built a good public clientele. The wholesale
work kept them up and running until they got the other [restoration] side established."
In the midst of building a successful business with repeat customers (collision customers who return with vintage restoration
plans), Rob has never lost sight of one particular group of people — his employees. "They are his number one priority," Lynn
says. And although the shop may be small (started with four employees and has doubled to eight), the employees appear to be
"here to stay," she adds.
While most employees have no formal training, with the exception of Defeo, who graduated auto body school in 1957, all technicians
are National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified and Inter-Industry Conference On Auto Collision Repair
(I-CAR) trained.
"They all have their specialties, but they can do anything," Lynn says.
The business also includes Lynn and Rob's son, Brett, who shares the secret to employee satisfaction at Precision Collision
— the inspiration of his father. He talks of his dad's ability to work on cars: "He just gets it. It's what he loves."
Brett, one of the part owners, admits he personally wasn't always into cars. "At first I didn't want anything to do with it,
because, honestly, it's a lot of hard work," he says. "But now, I'm married and settling down and I found it's a steady business."
Posted May 08 2007 04:45PM
