Swan, the owner of Sandy Auto Body, said he began his career in the industry as a painter at the shop in 1995, then opened a small shop of his own in nearby Portland for couple of years before the building he was in was sold and he lost his lease.

"I still had a few cars to finish, so I called (the shop owner) and asked him to lease me some space for a couple of weeks," Swan said. "He had just fired his painter that day, so he said, 'If you help me until I get someone hired, I'll help you.' After about a week, he walked up to me and said, 'Hey, if you're looking for a place, I'm thinking about selling this.'"

So at age 20, Swan found himself owner of the business, founded in 1972 and operating out of a 7,700-square-foot facility.

The real turning point for the business, Swan said, came about three years later when he attended training through the Masters School of Autobody Management.

"I sat there thinking, 'Man, if only I had done this three or four years ago right when I bought the shop," Swan said. "It opened my eyes to a lot. My first couple of years was more like learning just what not to do. We never had an issue with quality, just profitability and knowing how to watch the numbers."

Swan said he remembered his first year in particularly, waiting to get his completed tax return to see how the business had done.

"Now I'm thinking, 'I waited a full year to see how I'm doing?'" Swan said, sitting in front of a dry erase board where he now tracks how the shop is doing in terms of its daily, weekly, and monthly sales goals. "It's amazing how many businesses don't know their break-even point. But once you know that stuff and know where you are (in relation to it), you know what you need to do in order to determine if you are doing well or not."

Swan said it wasn't easy to make the decision to invest in the training, which included travel expenses and time away from the business. But it was well worth it and helped him learn "what I didn't know that I didn't know."

The company has grown each year under his ownership, Swan said, and now has 10 employees.

"Right now, we're doing about three times what we were doing when I bought it," he said.

A number of factors have fueled that growth, he said. The shop now participates in a half-dozen insurer direct repair programs, including State Farm's Select Service; the amount of State Farm business the shop has seen since the introduction of that program has increased, he said.

But Swan said the largest percentage of the shop's work comes from referrals from other customers or businesses as well as drive-by traffic, given the shop's visible location on the high-traffic U.S. Highway 26 through town.

All this combined with the continued growth of Sandy's population has helped the shop enjoy its busiest summer and fall ever, Swan said, even though a new shop recently opened in town has been busy as well.

Although zoning regulations prevent him from adding production space to the shop, he is looking for space to lease off-site. His plan is to devote that space to heavier hits, which now sometimes create bottlenecks in production.

That will most likely mean some additional equipment purchases, Swan said, although his existing facility is well-equipped. He said he recently purchased a Chief Impulse frame rack, which he likes because of its variable height feature. He said he has also been happy with another recent purchase, a Tecna spot welder.

The shop has sprayed ICI Autocolor for about six years, and Swan said he has been very satisfied with service provided by jobber Automotive Paint Specialties (APS).

"We have a really good rep who takes care of anything we need," he said. "They'll come help you if a painter goes on vacation or if you've got a color problem or anything like that. They're out here taking care of it."

Swan said one of his key goals is getting his staffing needs dialed in to alleviate stress on everybody.

"When you're constantly, constantly growing, you're also constantly changing the way you do everything," he said. "It can take you a while to realize you actually need to (bring a new person in). You think you can't afford it, but then you put the person (in) and then you wonder, 'How did we do this before?'"

Swan said staffing issues are complicated by changes in insurer claims procedures that now make it feel like the shop "spends as much time working on files as cars." He has, in fact, tracked office labor and found the shop has 4.6 hours of office labor for every $1,000 in sales.

But more than just numbers, staffing needs are also driven by Swan's commitment to customer service, he said.

"We just take care of them as much as possible, and that's what's grown this place as much as anything," he said. "I don't look at the car they drive when they come in and think, 'Oh, it's a piece of junk.' We give them what they want, and they'll be back and send other people. We've just tried to stay consistent by treating all people the same."