Autobody News: Arizona Shop's Honeymoon Has Been Nothing but Spectacular With Valspar Refinish

CARLSBAD, Calif., May 15, 2018 (Newswire.com) - NOTE: This October SPS profile was originally published in print and online in September 2017. 

Kevin Rowe, the owner of I-17 Collision Repair, had never been a car guy when he initially started his journey into the world of collision repair.

We're saving at least 25 percent over our former paint brand without compromising anything. Valspar Refinish has done an incredible job with their VOC products. It's evident—the performance is exceptional, and the company's support is over the top as well.

Kevin Rowe, Owner of I-17 Collision Repair

By now, however, he has gotten the hang of it, to say the least. In 2000, when he opened the doors of I-17 Collision, he had four employees and zero DRPs. Today, the shop is fixing 200 cars monthly without exception. It’s an impressive story that proves that you don’t have to come from a body shop background or go to tech school to build a successful business in the collision repair industry.

By tapping into a lot of fleet business, Rowe has been able to supplement his insurance work and significantly boost his bottom line.

“We have a lot of fleet business coming from a lot of different sources. It works out nicely,” Rowe said. “We work with several government entities, such as the Department of Fish and Game and local school districts, and have a fairly wide account base when it comes to fleet work.”

Rowe, 52, started out in retail before deciding to enter a slightly more sane industry, such as collision repair.

“I was a manager opening new stores for a major toy chain, and they asked me to move from my home state of Wisconsin to Arizona to open up the market there,” he said. “The hours got crazy after a while, so I started looking around for a day job. A friend owned a body shop and I thought, ‘I can sell, I know about budgets and management,’ and he gave me a shot. I started as an entry-level estimator to learn the business.”

Eventually, Rowe managed his friend’s shop for five years before deciding to open his own.

“I realized that I had the drive and desire to do this, so I reached out to the original owner of I-17 to acquire the business,” Rowe said. “He was thinking about retiring, so the timing was right. He sold it to me and we were fixing 20 cars every month during the good months at the beginning.”

By aggressively pursuing new relationships and accounts, Rowe was able to outgrow his former location and move into the 9,000-square-foot facility where he is today. By getting the proper people and processes in the right places, Rowe has been able to flourish rather than just survive.

“I was lucky to get an amazing manager like Xavier Moreau,” he said. “He’s been here 17 years now. We’re like an old married couple in many ways, but we see eye-to-eye when it comes to the important stuff.”

One of the important things that both his manager and he agree on 100 percent is their ongoing relationship with Valspar Refinish and its low VOC refinishing system, which is the only paint they will use. One year ago, I-17 Collision switched over to the brand and hasn’t looked back since.

“We were looking around for a quality product that would still allow us to make money, so we did a lot of research,” Rowe said. “We talked to other shops that were using Valspar Refinish to make sure they were achieving all the things you need from a paint, including color match, durability, and a warranty.”

To do their due diligence, Rowe and some of his crew traveled to California to meet with shop owners who were already reaping the myriad benefits of using Valspar® Refinish’s low VOC refinishing system.

“It was very educational because we were able to sit down with the painters themselves, walk into the paint booth and see the finished product firsthand,” he said. “Those are the guys who are using it every day, so we obviously want their feedback.”

Now that Rowe has been using the Valspar Refinish’s low VOC refinishing system for about a year, he can see that one of the major benefits of the product is the price.

“We’re saving at least 25 percent over our former paint brand without compromising anything,” he said. “Valspar Refinish has done an incredible job with their VOC products. It’s evident—the performance is exceptional, and the company’s support is over the top as well.”

"Another advantage of using the Valspar Refinish low VOC system is its color matching capabilities," Rowe said.

“Even in a perfect world, certain jobs will have issues, but Valspar Refinish’s color lab in Arlington, TX, has been great when it comes to getting corrections made,” he said. “They’ve been so helpful and present throughout the whole process. If you have a problem with a particular color and your deck isn’t matching for whatever reason, and you can’t get a blendable match, all you have to do is call them or send them a sample. They will respond quickly and update their database fast, so they can do their variances rapidly. They’re an amazing partner and resource for everything we’ve asked of them, and it shines in their color matching.”

I-17 Collision Repair
Location: Phoenix, AZ 
(602) 249-1706
i17collision.com 

Company At A Glance
Type:  Collision Repair
Facility Employees:  21
In Business Since:  2000
Number of Locations:  One
DRP Programs:  Three
Combined Production Space: 9,000 square feet

Valspar® Refinish
A Valspar Automotive Brand
600 Nova Drive SE
Massillon, OH 44646 
(800) 321-0672
valsparrefinish.com
Facebook: @ValsparAutomotive
Instagram: @ValsparAuto
Twitter: @ValsparAuto
YouTube: @ValsparAutomotiveRefinish

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Source: Autobody News