They’ll get your motor running
October 05,2015
Thomas Shannon is the director of the Automotive Refinishing and Collision and Detail Shop, another of the student-run businesses at Stafford Technical Center, which began in 2012. Overseeing approximately 15 students who work in the shop, Shannon is in his fifth year as the Automotive Refinishing and Collision teacher. Here he discusses the business, where, according to the STC website, you can get a complete cleaning for $30.
What is nature of your business?
In the collision shop, we do basic bodywork repair and minor paint jobs and in our detail shop we do basic details on people’s vehicles.
How/why did the company begin? What was the inspiration, the story behind its beginning?
I started this company so that the students within my program can get an entry-level education into the field of Automotive Refinishing and Collision. The inspiration for me was that just coming out of the industry, I could see the students were not coming into the world with the basic knowledge to even become a beginner tech.
How did you get where you are today with the business (has it changed focus, grown, down-sized, etc.)?
We are looking to down-size our detail program to two or three day a week instead of five because we want to spend more time on the small repair work and not as much time on cleaning cars.
As a student-run business, does it differ from how other businesses are run? What makes it unique? What is its most appealing aspect to customers?
We model it just like the industry does and now this year we have a third year student who will run the business. How nice and clean the cars look when they are done here by young students!
Teacher: What is the most important thing you’ve learned as head of a student-run business?
Learn to be patient because it takes the students much longer than it would take in the industry.
Student: What is the most important lesson you have learned in helping run this business?
That you really need to respect what you’re working on because it is someone’s everyday vehicle which they pay lots money for.
Contact information
E-Mail: [email protected]; Phone: 770-1048
If you are a locally owned Rutland-area small business or sole-proprietorship and would like to be featured in A Business Story, please contact [email protected].