Fort Collins, Colo.--Giving back to the community is at the core of Houska Automotive. Take for example its annual Houska-Houska 5K run that benefits the national bone marrow registry or its Spring Women's Car Care Clinics.
"We always try to participate and help educate people on the importance of car care to help them protect their investments," said Co-owner Dennis Houska, who runs the family business with his wife, Noreen Houska.
The Houskas said they continue to support the community that has given so much to them. Chuck Houska, Dennis' father and founder of Houska Automotive, made a name for the family by opening a modest two-bay shop in 1952, Dennis Houska said. Today, the 24-bay shop has grown to 24 employees, he said.
"The community's been great to us," Houska said. "We live in a great place; we can keep making it better. It's part of what we do."
Maintenance and repair education frequently begins at the service counter, said Service Adviser John "L.J." Houska, son of Dennis and Noreen Houska. The new Car Care Guides are a valuable tool to educate customers, he said.
Dennis Houska said he initially acquired the Car Care Guides through his local NAPA jobber. In the past, he added, the shop has used AAA booklets for the same purpose.
"I saw the book and it looked like a good tool for my shops," said Danny Whisenhunt, outside sales representative for NAPA Fort Collins. "I knew it was a tool that service writers could use to offer preventive maintenance to their customers."
Produced by the Car Care Council, a national nonprofit organization, the 53-page guides illustrate a vehicle's components, such as charging, starting, and fuel systems. Earlier this year, the guides were distributed by the Car Care Council through several national program distributors as well as via its Web site www.carcare.org.
"It's a great way to start conversations," Houska said. "They have some interesting facts, like how much air passes through your filter."
"You car's engine can use more than 10,000 gallons of air for every gallon of fuel burned, so it's easy to see how big a job the air filter has," the guide states.
In addition to one-on-one education at the counter, the Houskas said they conduct group education sessions in and out of the shop.
Each April, the shop holds a Women's Car Care Clinic, in which mothers are invited to bring in daughters who just received their driver's license. The event is not intended to attract new customers, he said, but to provide a service to the community. The next clinic, he said, is scheduled for April 21.
L.J. Houska said he recently conducted a training session with a senior citizen group in Wellington, a town just north of the city.
Houska said the senior citizens remember the days when engines needed to be rebuilt every 60,000 miles, but many weren't sure what check-engine lights signified. "It's not about teaching them how their vehicle works," he said. "It's about teaching them how to help themselves and maintain their car."
"The hardest vehicle to diagnose without customer communication is an intermittent problem," said Service Adviser Jerry McDonnell.
On occasion, McDonnell said he'll go out on a drive with a customer to assist in pinpointing an odd noise, for example. Communicating this information to the technicians is critical, he added.
At the shop, each service adviser has a team of technicians, McDonnell said.
"You get to know the tech and their style and discover their strengths and weaknesses," Houska said. "It's getting to be a specialty business," he said. "That's why we try to assign each job to the right tech."
Many ideas for shop operation come from the employees, Dennis Houska said.
"We're always willing to change," he said. Suggested changes range from how paper work is handled to shop supplies that are environmentally friendly, he said.
Training employees is high on the Houskas' priority list. Service Adviser Jon Monks was the first in the nation to complete R. L. O'Connor & Associate's Professional Service Advisor Development Program, Houska said, adding that McDonnell is currently taking the online courses.
The program requires service advisers to take 96 hours of online courses in a two-year period, Monks said. Quizzes are then administered and shop implementation is required, he said. "Small, simple changes can greatly impact the business as a whole," he said.
"We'll be more professional" as a result of the training, Houska said. "It has given (Monks) more tools to do a better job. You always need to be sharpening your professionalism and learning new things."
Other annual community events in which the Houskas said they participate include the First Presbyterian Christmas tree lighting, a Halloween Blood Drive, and a Harvest Farm maze.
