Driving home with a piece of history

A 1916 phone book from North Dakota holds the evidence of sorts on Steen & Berg Co. Kevin Berg, general manager and son of the owner, James Berg, says their auto body shop is the oldest in the state. From his research, he found that no other auto body shop in the Sioux state could be traced back 91 years.

Now he's pursuing historical records to find out whether this same shop may hold the title of being the longest running in the nation. In the meantime, the Bergs have a business to run.

Originally, Kevin's grandfather, Sam Berg and partner Gus Steen opened the shop. Steen died in 1949, at which time Sam took over the business. Years later, Sam's son, James, who joined the company 53 years ago, assumed the business from his father. But the name has remained the same.

Despite the steady growth of the city and the business, the shop has remained small in numbers — with 10 employees on commission and two part-timers — but large in experience. In fact, five of those 10 employees represent 100 years of experience combined. One employee joined the company in 1968; another in 1978. Kevin Berg started working at the shop 33 years ago, receiving his first paycheck for a whopping $3.50. His brother also works for the company within his own non-auto-related department, which primarily handles contract repair work on house and garage doors.

Equipment, though not that extensive, gets the job done, and includes an ink oven, two frame racks and all the welders.

The shop's only location in Fargo, a cultural college town, has served the owner and his sons well. They've run the shop in the current building since 1966. But James and Kevin are getting the itch to build on what they have, by constructing a new facility south of their current location. "The town is moving south. We're thinking of moving in that direction and follow suit, but nothing is confirmed just yet," Kevin says.

If it weren't for the business, which runs thick in the blood of James and Kevin, both say they'd be hunting or fishing, but concede that, "Running a family business takes up some serious time," according to Kevin. James adds that if it weren't for owning the auto body shop, he'd like to get his psychology degree, he joked.

Speaking of education, Kevin says as far as training in cars, he never officially went to any form of technical school, but he has maintained his I-CAR training, as have other employees in the shop.

At the end of the day though, formal training aside, Kevin said his family appreciates the value of maintaining the business for as long as they have. Especially gratifying to Kevin and his father are the comments from so many customers.

"People come in and tell us, 'My grandpa got his car fixed here.' Or, 'I brought my first car to you guys in 1964,' " Kevin says of the comments he hears on a daily basis. Not surprisingly, nearly all of their business is repeat. "Don't get me wrong, we do get new customers, but we also usually keep the ones that we've had."

Nevertheless, competition is stiff in the area, and more shops are popping up south of their Fargo-based shop. Hence the push to build sooner than later, especially since the business may be outgrowing its current 11,000-square-foot facility. Forty-one years is long enough to be in one building, according to Kevin.

In keeping up with others, Kevin said what they have going for them is their experience — and a little advertising doesn't hurt. The shop regularly runs ads on television and in the local paper. In the meantime, they're not too worried about the competition. "People stay loyal to us because they know us, and more importantly, our business," says Kevin.

Kevin said he hopes the Web site (www.steenandberg.com) will play a greater role in attracting future business. Although to date, it hasn't had a significant impact. "Actually, we still deal primarily person to person," he says.

They also deal personally with five insurance companies for direct repair programs, which have added some strength to the firm's annual revenue, which tops $1 million.

Kevin said the business truly has advanced financially since the days of horses and carriages. Although Kevin was unable to extract from old files the original estimate costs in the early part of the 20th century, he did run across an estimate of personal significance.

"In looking through old estimates, I found that my Dad met my Mom by writing an estimate. I found a copy of the actual estimate from 1958 for a 1950 Ford," he says. "The car was totaled and it cost just $179." He went home and shared with his mother the discovery of the estimate. Her response: "Give me a minute." She rifled through her belongings and moments later presented Kevin with the original bill. "She had kept it all this time, but no one knew about it," he says.

Today, that average repair cost would ring up to $1,400, Kevin said. They've come a long way since 1916.