Kenora, Ontario – CARSTAR Kenora was honoured recently at the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Awards banquet, where owner Peter Scheibler took home the award for Entrepreneur of the Year.
Scheibler was one of 12 other nominees in his category, and CARSTAR Kenora was among more than 40 businesses being recognized for their success in the Kenora district.
“It’s humbling. I received so many messages through social media, text messages, phone calls and emails. A lot more than I ever would have expected. Obviously, it’s good for the business. It shows we’re running a good business here and trying our best to tough it out through this difficult time. We, of course, were also directly affected by COVID – we were really slow for like three months straight. So we had to change some things around but didn’t have to lay anyone off so that was nice. Everyone stuck together and we just kind of pushed through.”
A painter with more than 20 years of experience under his belt in the auto industry as a painter, Scheibler took the reigns at CARSTAR Kenora in 2016.
“I started here in December of ’97 as an apprentice painter. That’s how it all began. I went to college to be an automotive painter and then around the year 2002 I was given the option to help out in the office. I had an injury so I was gonna be off for 2-3 months, so they got me doing some office work. Honestly, I never looked back at the painting part of it. That ultimately led to an opportunity to then buy the business in July of 2016. So, I’ve owned it now for just over four years.”
For Scheibler, the key to a good business is a happy business – simple as that.
“I really value the employees here. We really try and look after them. We definitely realize that without them its gonna be pretty tough to do any sort of good business. I believe that some of the nominations came from the general public and some of my staff also nominated me. It sets us apart that if you can sustain a happy workforce – a happy employee roster, you’re gonna run a good business. That’s really what it comes down to.”
Scheibler continued, “We have a little slogan, and that came from CARSTAR: we promise to be there for our customers, their cars and the community we live in. This does a lot for the community. I do what I can. We try and do many sponsorships for a lot of the local sports teams, I really believe in that. Our local hospital foundation, we’re a big supporter of that. I just like to have that name CARSTAR Kenora out there in the community, showing that we give back – we try to look out for these organizations through fundraisers. Whether it’s Girl Guides, Scouts, stuff like that. We just try and sponsor as much local as possible.”
