Collision Repair 20#1
RON AND MANDY ALBERTS
CARSTAR ST. STEPHEN
It’d be difficult to find a better small-town collision shop than CARSTAR St. Stephen, and by extension, better owners than Ron and Mandy Alberts. The collision repair power couple represent a convergence of so many of the best values that our industry has to offer.
With Mandy’s background in medical offices and care facilities and the expertise Ron gained visiting collision shops around the world as a consultant for AkzoNobel, the pair has every angle of the collision repair process covered and down to second-nature. They know their community, and the community knows them; the Alberts take the trust of their customers very seriously.
“We really try to be intentional about dealing with far more than bent metal, but with a friend’s experience and figuratively putting our arms around that person and walking through that experience with them,” Ron said in January as part of Collision Repair’s coverage of CARSTAR St. Stephen. “There’s more to this, from a human standpoint, than just fixing cars.”
For the Alberts, this takes the form of anything from helping their customers get around town when their car is in the shop, to working with high schools to expose their local community to the opportunities in the collision repair trade. “I look at the industry and some of the people that are out there, even in some of the shops that we know in other cities and what they have to offer and what they can pass on—there’s a legacy there and it’s being missed out on,” said Mandy
Collision Repair 20#2
JEFF HAMPSHIRE
CSS SOUTHGATE COLLISION
Jeff Hampshire’s come-up in the collision industry is like a scene out of a movie. He’s a young kid who is fascinated with cars. He’s working on his ’68 Cutlass on his dad’s farm. He calls him over to look at the fender he just sanded and primed. Without a word Jeff’s dad smacks the fender and all of the Bondo falls out.Jeff now realizes that he has a mission.“From there I decided I was going to learn how to do this properly,” said Jeff in his interview with Collision Repair back in March.
Jeff spent decades devoting himself to mastering the craft of autobody repair, while also being repeatedly thrust into leadership positions that forced him to either sink or swim. It turns out that Jeff is a pretty good swimmer. “Through my whole career, I’d gone from being a technician in the back to helping to run the shop and going back and forth doing different things,” Jeff said.“Sixteen years ago, I entered the dealer group here and I never looked back.”
Jeff was able to combine his hand-on body repair skills with a natural ability to lead a team, culminating in the great success that is Jeff’s collision wing of the Southgate dealer group.There are few shop owners who exude the same amount of pride and love that Jeff does in his staff. All but one of Jeff’s 12 employees have been working with him for more than 10 years and the reason why comes down to a lot more than just admiration of Jeff’s moustache.
Collision Repair 20#3
RAJ JOHAL
CRAFTSMAN COLLISION DELTA
Raj Johal had just hit a roadblock right before he decided to enter the collision repair business. A passionate do-it-yourself-er, Raj had reached a point where he, in fact, couldn’t do it himself, and sought out the skills he needed.Years went on and cars remained a hobby for Raj, until he had the chance to work for a parts wholesaler and begin re-engaging with his passion for auto repair. After building some solid relationships and dipping a toe back into the auto world, Raj accepted an offer to assistant manage his first Craftsman Collision centre.
“I was new to the business. I didn’t know a lot about collision repair, but obviously I knew a lot about cars. When you know a lot about cars it becomes a tad easier to write estimates. That’s where I started,” said Raj in March in his interview with Collision Repair.Eventually after working out the intricacies involved in working with insurance companies and other such new-owner obstacles, Raj was able to start shifting the culture of his business and run the type of shop he would have wanted to work in.“I definitely employ a collaborative management style.
I like to involve our whole team when it comes to input, ensuring that every team member is important and part of our solutions,” said Raj.The results speak for themselves as Craftsman Collision Delta proudly boasts two painters with more than 30 years with the company, and many more employees with decades of hard work under their belts.
