Nowak has found that these graduates are best at work they've had hands-on experience with. With a limited budget, the school isn't able to provide as much equipment to support hands-on training as it would like. To address this, Nowak has stepped in. From time to time, when he has equipment that his shop no longer needs but which is still in working condition, he donates it to the school. Donations have included a spot welder and a frame machine. "We had two frame machines, and we needed room to put a lift in and we weren't using the smaller one much," Nowak recalls.
Donating the equipment has tax benefits, Nowak notes. But more importantly, as students have more equipment to work with, their level of training improves, enabling them to adapt more quickly when hired by Nowak or another body shop. As Nowak notes, "We just don't have the time for a lot of training."
Good technicians are particularly critical for someone like Nowak, whose shop traces its roots — and good reputation — back to 1931 when Phil's father founded Phil's Body Shop in Calumet City, Ind. Nowak grew up working in that business. "I remember when Bondo first came out," he recalls.In 1974, Nowak took over management of the Calumet City shop and changed its name to Phil's Auto Rebuilders, but opted to sell it in 1987 as he found that many long-time customers were moving out of the area. After working as an estimator for a year, Nowak decided that work wasn't for him. "There was a lot of driving, and everything was handwritten," he notes.
Nowak went back to collision repair, working at a local body shop, but he missed having his own collision repair shop and in 1993 decided to open a new business, Phil's Collision Repair, in its current location. He started with an empty lot and had a facility built on the lot to his specifications.The new business was immediately successful. Customers from the previous shop followed Nowak to the new location. The business also benefited from a steadily growing population. "The area is booming," he notes. "A lot of people commute to Chicago."
A great location also helps. Nowak does very little advertising other than a large marquee sign out front because, as he notes, "Forty thousand cars go by here a day."
Phil's Collision Repair is on several insurance company direct repair programs, which Nowak got involved in early on.
"It's what the big guys were doing — it's a good way to get business," Nowak says. "We sent letters out and got on a couple of smaller programs to get things started."
More than half of the company's business comes from word-of-mouth and referrals, however. Nowak attributes the shop's excellent reputation to tight quality controls. "I watch everything that goes on, " he says.
The company runs about 98 percent on customer satisfaction surveys, Nowak says. A surprisingly high 75 percent of customers complete survey cards, which are distributed with a thank you note.In addition to the equipment donations to collision repair classes, Phil's Collision Repair also supports other community causes such as local sports teams. Nowak is hopeful that, by donating equipment to the local high school, he will help make collision repair classes more appealing and help attract more students.
"The biggest problem in the industry is (getting) future help," Nowak says. "Not many young people like to get into this, and that could hurt the industry down the line."
Nowak has thought about expanding his business but is wary of taking on more real estate taxes — and he likes to have plenty of time with his wife, his five children and two grandchildren. Although his oldest children, who are now in their 20s, have not expressed much interest in taking over the shop, Phil notes that his youngest son, now age five, could be the one who carries on the family collision repair tradition.
