Idea expanded

The Kohler’s first intent with the former Moser Motors property had been to offer automotive maintenance for their own fleet.

That idea quickly changed into a full-fledged business.

Patriot Auto Sales and Service opened its doors in April. The auto repair shop at 1509 N. Meridian St., Portland, also recently started offering used vehicles for sale.

Patriot Auto Sales and Service general manager Zach Fullenkamp explained they offer a full range of automotive services, including alignments, rotations and oil changes as well as wear and tear needs on parts such as tires, brakes and rotors.

“We can do your typical transmission service,” added Fullenkamp.

Within the last few months, Patriot Auto Sales and Service also started selling vehicles. Last month just under a dozen used cars of a variety of makes sat on the lot for sale. Hopes are to offer more vehicles — upwards of 40 — in the future.

After Moser Motors’ Portland location closed in December, Susan and Wade Kohler decided to purchase the property, which is directly west from their other businesses, Pioneer Packaging and Toddlertown Early Learning Center. 

The Kohlers had considered if nothing else they could use the space as extra parking for Toddlertown, which opened its doors in February.

When the Kohlers realized the equipment available to them in the former Moser Motors building, though, they hatched another plan.

“Then we looked inside, and like, ‘OK, they’ve got nice lifts here, we could manage our own fleet here,” said Kohler, specifically referencing their non-diesel service trucks and other company vehicles.

“We said, ‘OK, we’re going to just run a maintenance team out of this and do all of our repairs and get our own vehicles caught up,” she continued. 

As they began setting up the lot to meet repair and maintenance needs for their fleet, which includes roughly 60 vehicles, local residents began stopping by. Kohler noted folks asked her when they’d be ready to take on customers.

“I just think we had a lot of interest, people asking us, ‘Can you fix my car? When can you take the public in?’” recalled Kohler. “Once we saw that, we were like, you know what? (Let’s) get started.”

Earlier this year, the building underwent a slight facelift, with the crew swapping the carpeting for hardwood flooring and putting on fresh coats of paint or new wallpaper throughout the building. New furniture, blinds and other small additions also made their way into the office as it took shape.

“(We) just (wanted to) make it a nice, comfortable entry for those that need to come in and wait for the oil change,” said Kohler. “(We wanted to) try to just focus on being attractive for the public and to match what we can offer.”

Kohler noted the property’s location along U.S. 27 (Meridian Street), making it an ideal spot for traffic. The Kohlers began working with local auto part retail stores, including NAPA Auto Parts, to stock the parts their new business needed. After hearing more requests from customers about buying and selling vehicles, Patriot Auto Sales and Service implemented software to begin car sales. 

Kohler planned to work with local banks to set up financing options for customers purchasing vehicles.

“It’ll assist the local, small-town people that want to be here and want to keep it local, which is great to see,” she said. “Portland thrives on small business.”

Fullenkamp previously served as homestead quality livestock bedding manager and lumber inventory manager at Pioneer Packaging. He approached the Kohlers when they purchased the property in December and asked who they planned to hire as a manager for the new business.

“Always, growing up, I’ve always been interested in cars,” he said. “When the opportunity arose, I just wanted to jump at it.”

The wheels started turning from there.

“When you have an employee that does well, and is willing to step up to the next project, that’s huge,” said Kohler. “Especially because it’s so different than what we’re used to.”

So far, business has been booming. Fullenkamp noted their shop has had customers in and out each day since it first opened months ago.

Keeping local roots in a local business, Kohler pointed out, is a key to success in the community.

“We named it ‘Patriot Auto’ because we are that town, you know, we’re the Jay County Patriots, so we want to be able to support Jay County in that fashion,” she said. “It was one of those things that we thought, ‘it’s a good representation of who we are.’ And we are local, and we know the community will support us in that area.”