Maine shop turns green into gold

Planning a trip to New England this year? Aside from the changing leaves, Shawn Moody might have another reason to bring you here — the one-stop I-CAR Gold Moody's Collision Centers in one of soon-to-be four locations in southern Maine. Moody's ultimate goal is to operate in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

He's financially savvy, an experimental aviation pilot, father to four children, a believer in training and environmental practices, and he's seasoned in winning awards, such as the Governor's Award. He owns the center's operations in Gorham (the center's centralized services are based at this location, helped run by Shawn's brother, Thad); Scarborough (Dan Marean); and Biddeford (Don Grenier). The collision center operation, which has a number of active DRP relationships, is gearing up to open a fourth location in Portland (Lee Goodine) — the largest city in Maine — later this year.

Moody is the founder of the 31-year-old green business, which opened its doors in 1977. Shawn was only 13 when he got baptized in the collision repair business. "My mom raised Thad, Kim and I on a street by a Corvette repair shop. It was in my blood and I couldn't get enough of it," Moody says.

Moody built a three-bay garage in 1977 for $6,000. The shop migrated to body work over time. The first year, Moody recalls servicing approximately 100 customers. "Remember, I was still in high school. I was the only 'owner' of the shop." He explains how he was part of a co-op program where students got credits for working in a trade. He would get out of school at 11 a.m., and teacher Hal Taylor let him work for himself at the business. "Looking back on it if something had happened to me while I was working alone, he was taking a big risk," says Moody, who received no formal education other than high school.

Somewhere along the way, Moody discovered one of his passions was protecting the environment. "We purchased the property next to us in 1988. It was truly a 'junkyard.' We worked over the next several years cleaning, scrapping and reorganizing about 20 acres of junk, tires, white goods and scrap iron. Recycling back then was just becoming popular and we embraced it. Gorham Auto Parts won the Automotive Recyclers Association "Gold Seal" accreditation for environmental excellence in 1992."

"Too often it's promoted that saving the environment is a wacky idea that costs everyone a lot of money. Coworkers [Moody's term for employees] are diligent about shutting off lights. How many shops do you go into with all the lights on and no one's there? Saving electricity and energy makes perfect economic sense and the byproduct is it helps the environment," he says.

"At Moody's we installed radiant heat in the floor. We supplement by burning waste oil too. There is actual tubing in the concrete floors that warms the slabs up; water is pumped through the floors. Overall, there's a sharp reduction in heating costs as well as a more efficient operation," Moody says. The current spray booth equipment is equipped to handle waterborne when transitioning to that in the future.

When Moody isn't helping the environment, he helps enrich his coworkers. In 2003, Moody's implemented an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

"We feel strongly it's our responsibility to provide for our co-workers' future," Moody says. "Our current goal is to continue contributing five percent of everyone's annual W-2 to ESOP and over time the ESOP and its participants will become majority owners. To put it in real terms, the company's value grew 21 percent last year."

"In only five years since inception, some coworkers earned $120 a week in their retirement without spending a penny. Why not share the sweat equity with people helping to achieve it?"

"I want the business to sustain a legacy long after I'm gone. I realize it's not designed to change the way we run our day-to-day business — it's more of a reward for people working hard in the business for long-term success. My dream is that when they retire if they don't want to work they won't have to," he says.

Moody concludes with a customer's comment that has stuck with him: "Don't get too big."

"I'm sensitive to the fact that we want to maintain a local hands-on environment. We don't want to become a franchise or a big operator that the customer gets lost in the shuffle. Don't get too big for your britches essentially," he says.