Dutch-born Len Verheyen brings an Old World apprenticeship program to his California shop
SnapshopSHOP:Len’s Auto Body Inc.Location:
Oceanside, Calif. Owners:
Len and Anne Verheyen
Years in business: 34employees: 30SIZE: 38,000 sq. ft. (includes 2,500 sq. ft. I-CAR training area).Number of bays: 14MONTHLy Repairs (average): 200In business, as in life, a measured combination of chance and preparedness often pave the road for success. Take, for example, the experience of Len Verheyen, a shop technician who turned what was to be a brief visit to the United States in 1968 into an opportunity to build a state-of-the-art collision repair business dedicated to training the next generation of shop technicians.While traveling to his native Holland in the late 1960s, Verheyen decided to stop in Glendale, Calif., to visit an uncle. “While I was here, I got a job in a shop and found out that American shops paid twice as much as those in Australia,” Verheyen says. He was born in Holland but moved to Australia with his family when he was 13. “I liked the country so I decided to stay,” he says. Verheyen then devoted himself to refining his shop skills and keeping up with the latest technology in the industry. This dedication paid off four years later when Verheyen attended an equipment trade show and purchased what he believed to be the first wire welder in California. He quickly mastered the tool and then discovered a burgeoning market for his new skill. He worked at a variety of shops and steadily gained more valuable business and technical experience until 1985, when he was ready to open his own business. He named it Len’s Auto Body Inc., and settled in Oceanside, Calif. During the next 16 years, Verheyen and his wife, Anne, transformed what began as a one-man business into one employing more than two dozen workers. Then, in 2001, they heard the news that land would be available near California’s Route 76. “We could have retired then because our business was doing so well,” Anne says. “But Len has too much energy and enthusiasm for that.” To maintain their business, they knew they would have to be more competitive with consolidators. So they bought land off of Route 76 and built a much larger shop. In August 2002, the Verheyens opened the doors of their new 38,000-sq. ft. facility. The shop features 14 work bays, two prep areas, two downdraft spray booths and includes among its 30 employees four estimators, eight technicians, two painters, two detailers and an ASE-certified mechanic to perform mechanical repairs. “With the exception of muffler and glass work, our shop can do everything, which is one of our goals,” Anne says. Using this same philosophy, Len’s leases space to a car rental agency and includes 2,500 sq. ft. of office space for I-CAR training.Len continues to invest in technology. He is in the process of supplying his employees with PDAs, which they will use to enter information on the repair status of each job. Through the shop’s Web site, customers will be able to see what is being done to their vehicles at any time. In addition to the emphasis on technology, the new location continues to host one of the Verheyens’ most prized creations, an apprenticeship program. While growing up in Holland and Australia, Len learned collision repair through a European-style apprenticeship program, which he transplanted into his own business in the mid 1980s. He now employs up to six full-time apprentices, and each one pairs up with a technician and spends four to five years learning welding, frame pulling (which Len teaches), painting and more. Once they’ve completed the program, apprentices are I-CAR trained and ready to enter the work force. “There’s a real shortage of technicians in the industry, and this is our way of giving back,” Anne says. Besides their training, the Verheyens also hope their apprentices come away from the program realizing just how important preparation and innovation is to their professional survival. Certainly, Len’s Auto Body reflects just how significant those factors are to financial success. During the first month at its new location, the shop’s business increased by 20 percent. The following month, they experienced another 20 percent increase. The Verheyens are optimistic that things will only get better. Not bad for a business that started as a three-day American vacation.
Years in business: 34employees: 30SIZE: 38,000 sq. ft. (includes 2,500 sq. ft. I-CAR training area).Number of bays: 14MONTHLy Repairs (average): 200In business, as in life, a measured combination of chance and preparedness often pave the road for success. Take, for example, the experience of Len Verheyen, a shop technician who turned what was to be a brief visit to the United States in 1968 into an opportunity to build a state-of-the-art collision repair business dedicated to training the next generation of shop technicians.While traveling to his native Holland in the late 1960s, Verheyen decided to stop in Glendale, Calif., to visit an uncle. “While I was here, I got a job in a shop and found out that American shops paid twice as much as those in Australia,” Verheyen says. He was born in Holland but moved to Australia with his family when he was 13. “I liked the country so I decided to stay,” he says. Verheyen then devoted himself to refining his shop skills and keeping up with the latest technology in the industry. This dedication paid off four years later when Verheyen attended an equipment trade show and purchased what he believed to be the first wire welder in California. He quickly mastered the tool and then discovered a burgeoning market for his new skill. He worked at a variety of shops and steadily gained more valuable business and technical experience until 1985, when he was ready to open his own business. He named it Len’s Auto Body Inc., and settled in Oceanside, Calif. During the next 16 years, Verheyen and his wife, Anne, transformed what began as a one-man business into one employing more than two dozen workers. Then, in 2001, they heard the news that land would be available near California’s Route 76. “We could have retired then because our business was doing so well,” Anne says. “But Len has too much energy and enthusiasm for that.” To maintain their business, they knew they would have to be more competitive with consolidators. So they bought land off of Route 76 and built a much larger shop. In August 2002, the Verheyens opened the doors of their new 38,000-sq. ft. facility. The shop features 14 work bays, two prep areas, two downdraft spray booths and includes among its 30 employees four estimators, eight technicians, two painters, two detailers and an ASE-certified mechanic to perform mechanical repairs. “With the exception of muffler and glass work, our shop can do everything, which is one of our goals,” Anne says. Using this same philosophy, Len’s leases space to a car rental agency and includes 2,500 sq. ft. of office space for I-CAR training.Len continues to invest in technology. He is in the process of supplying his employees with PDAs, which they will use to enter information on the repair status of each job. Through the shop’s Web site, customers will be able to see what is being done to their vehicles at any time. In addition to the emphasis on technology, the new location continues to host one of the Verheyens’ most prized creations, an apprenticeship program. While growing up in Holland and Australia, Len learned collision repair through a European-style apprenticeship program, which he transplanted into his own business in the mid 1980s. He now employs up to six full-time apprentices, and each one pairs up with a technician and spends four to five years learning welding, frame pulling (which Len teaches), painting and more. Once they’ve completed the program, apprentices are I-CAR trained and ready to enter the work force. “There’s a real shortage of technicians in the industry, and this is our way of giving back,” Anne says. Besides their training, the Verheyens also hope their apprentices come away from the program realizing just how important preparation and innovation is to their professional survival. Certainly, Len’s Auto Body reflects just how significant those factors are to financial success. During the first month at its new location, the shop’s business increased by 20 percent. The following month, they experienced another 20 percent increase. The Verheyens are optimistic that things will only get better. Not bad for a business that started as a three-day American vacation.
