Debbie Briggs

When you’ve been in the automotive repair business as long as Nate Smith has, you learn a thing or two about running a successful shop. First and foremost, the customer always comes first. And second, specialization can be the key to success.

When you’ve been a shop owner as long as Greg Skolnik has – since December 1979, to be exact – you’ve learned a thing or two about running a successful automotive repair business: Like ways to retain top-notch employees and how to build relationships with customers that keep them coming back year after year.

When you’ve been in business as long as Mitch Smith, you develop some surefire ways to ensure top-quality service and repairs that result in satisfied customers and repeat business. Which leads to one of Smith’s rules of business, or “Mitch-isms” as he calls them: Do to/speak to/service your clients better than anyone else.

When residents and business owners in the Souris River Valley were told last May that a flood was imminent in the coming weeks as a result of heavy rains and snow runoff, the owners of Harley’s Automotive Center in Minot, ND, sprang into action.