Mechanic starts his own garage

Rich Gierhart spent 15 years working at The Tire Center in Portland.

But for the last few of them, his time buried elbow deep in car parts extended well beyond normal business hours.

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. these days, Gierhart can be found not in Portland, but his new shop in rural Redkey.

“I told the wife (Tisha) I wasn’t happy,” he said. “I was working out here until about 10 [p.m.] every night working on people’s vehicles.”

So Tisha told him to start his own business. Therefore, the 48-year-old with more than three decades of experience opened Rich’s Auto Repair, 9931 W. 400 South, Redkey.

The desire to be his own boss, however, wasn’t the driving force for beginning his own shop.

“I don’t have a problem working for somebody,” he said. “As your own boss, you have the headaches to deal with, the customers that are not happy and stuff like that.

“I plan on taking care of my customers.”

Gierhart offers complete automotive service, from oil changes to breaks, air conditioning units and internal mechanical parts. He says he stays away from rebuilding things such as transmissions, but is more than happy to replace one if its rebuilt.

He also doesn’t work on diesel engines.

His 2,400-square-foot facility has two docks to hoist vehicles, a tire balancer and an AC machine. He said the Environmental Protection Agency requires a freon recovery machine if a mechanic is going to service air conditioning units.

Gierhart already had one vehicle hoist and most of the hand tools so he didn’t have to invest too much into more equipment.

“Dunkirk, Redkey, that is my main people right now,” he said. “Kind of word of mouth … I try to ask every customer that comes in how they heard of me.”

For now, Rich has no other employees. He just doesn’t have the work to hire someone else. But as his business grows he’ll hire someone and train them.

“I got a particular way of how I do things,” he laughed. “If I get somebody it would be to get somebody who doesn’t have bad habits yet so I could train them the way it should be.

“Maybe some day. Right now I’ve got enough for just me.”

Between jobs, Gierhart is continually upgrading his facility. So far he’s insulated one wall to prepare for colder temperatures in the winter. The shop only has a small furnace in a back room, but it doesn’t have the power to heat the building with a 16-foot room.

Another benefit to Gierhart starting his business is how close he is to home. His house is about 20 feet away.

“It’s OK,” he joked. “It hasn’t interfered with people coming in and walking up to my door at 6 o’clock at night. I haven’t had anyone do that yet.

“If it happens there will be a privacy fence going up so they can’t see the house when they come in here.”