Jason and Brian Keen had big shoes to fill when they took over management of Ed’s Premier Auto Body this past January—several pairs of shoes, in fact. As the third generation at the helm of the landmark Spokane, Wash., collision repair shop, the brothers are under pressure to live up to a reputation that’s been 40 years in the making.
Their grandfather, Ed Welsch, ran the original repair business out of his garage before investing in a 2,000-sq.-ft. facility on the east side of town in 1960. The shop, which the proud owner named after himself, handled a little bit of everything but specialized in hot rod repair, detail work and customizations. “He did oddball stuff a lot of people didn’t do,” grandson Jason Keen says.
Ed’s wife Ruth worked with him in the shop, and together they helped the business grow into a 5,000-sq.-ft. facility by 1979. Their daughter Joyce and her new husband Al Keen took over the shop two years later, just in time for a big shift in the automotive industry as cars became computerized and auto body shops began relying on ever more precise machinery. “We had to invest and stay current with technology to keep up with the demands of cars,” Keen says. “We used to do rust repair and complete paint jobs. We stopped doing that and focused on collision repair on late-model vehicles.”
Before the Keens took over, Welsch’s philosophy was, Jason Keen explains, “anything that came in the door we did. We felt that we were always good at what we did, but we never really excelled at one specific area.” Narrowing the scope of the business by fine-tuning the collision repair area allowed the shop to achieve an even higher level of quality in repairs. His parents started investing in new equipment, such as frame racks and mixing systems. They also brought in technicians skilled in collision repair instead of general repair. This also allowed them to establish relationships with insurance companies, a move that resulted in the shop’s becoming part of some direct repair programs. “By focusing on just that area of repair, we could actually become the best at what we do,” Keen says.
Another reason for the specialization was that Al and Joyce Keen were setting the framework for passing on the business to their two sons, Brian and Jason, who had been involved in the business since they were old enough to wash cars and do odd jobs for their parents for 50 cents an hour. “We always hung out around the shop when we were younger and probably were a nuisance to most of the body shop people,” Keen says.
Eventually Jason Keen, 31, became a master mechanical and body technician, and his brother Brian, 34, a master painter and refinisher. After working their way up through the ranks in the business, they were poised to take the reins when their father retired at the end of 2005. The shop they inherited is a far cry from the mom-and-pop shop that began in their grandfather’s backyard. Ed’s Premier Auto Body is a sprawling 25,000-sq.-ft. collision repair facility with a separate body shop, paint facility and mechanical facility. The three-acre lot includes a tow yard for vehicles that can’t be driven in. The original body shop now serves as office space for the Keens’ 22-person business. The I-Car Gold class facility features state-of-the-art equipment, including frame machines, electronic measuring systems and alignment systems.
So far the Keens plan to carry on the legacy of their parents and grandparents while making small, incremental changes to the business. They’d like to expand the services and focus more on auto detailing and accessories. “We have a full mechanical department where we do trouble alignments for alignment shops that can’t get them right,” Keen says. “We like a challenge now and then.”
One thing they don’t plan to do is increase the advertising budget—Ed’s Premier doesn’t advertise. “All of our business is by referrals, word of mouth,” says Keen. Among their loyal customers are the children and grandchildren of customers whose cars Ed Welsch repaired years ago. They also plan to stay involved in the community by serving on the advisory board of the Spokane Skill Center, a vocational training school with an automotive component.
“The focus of business has changed, but his actual philosophy of how we handle customers has always remained the same,” Keen says. “Grandfather taught us to be hardworking honest people. Treat people right and do what you say, and your reward will be great. That’s the reason we don’t have to advertise at this point.”
