Golden Anniversaries for Two ATRA Members
Lee’s totally restored 56 Chevy Bel Air convertible was on display during the celebration.
much time he wants to spend working, and how much to spend on himself. Mike began working with his father back when he was still in school, so he’s been with the business for nearly 35 years; not 50, but still a long time.
Marvin Keyser and Mark Schwartzman; Glen Burnie Trans Keeping a transmission shop in
operation for 50 years isn’t easy; as we all know, the industry has seen a lot of changes over the last 10 or 20 years, let alone half a century. Williams Automotive enjoyed the benefit of oper- ating as a full service shop, so when transmission sales were down, they could maintain their revenue stream with brakes and oil changes. But Glen Burnie Transmission is a
transmission shop. They fix transmis- sions; that’s all they’ve ever done since Marvin Keyser opened the doors back in 1961. That’s what they want to con- tinue doing. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t changed their business model to meet the changing demands of the market.
Mark Schwartzman married Karen
Keyser — Marvin’s daughter — in 1996. In 1997 he joined the company and took over its day-to-day operations,
44
just as our i n d u s t r y was begin- ning to drop off. B a c k
Two generations keep Williams Automotive & Transmission running smoothly. Pictured l-r: Mike and Lee Williams
then, Glen Burnie employed 55 people, includ- ing 13 rebuilders. Then three of those rebuilders left to open their own shop. That’s when Mark made a decision that would alter their business model for- ever: Instead of hiring new technicians to replace them, Mark started offering remans. The strategy worked: They were
still rebuilding most transmissions, but when they got too busy or a unit came in completely destroyed, they’d order a reman. They discovered that not having to pay for additional rebuilders more than made up for the additional cost of the reman. So little by little they started reducing their rebuilds and switching to remans. In 2004, Marvin visited the
Certified rebuilding plant. He was so impressed with what he saw that he asked Peter Fink, president of Certified, to let Glen Burnie become a distributor. A couple days later it was a done deal. Today Glen Burnie stocks over 300 Certified reman units; they have
16 employees, including two fulltime outside sales people. And they’re doing great; 2010 was their best year ever, and it looks like they’ll enjoy a 5% bump over that for 2011. Their outside sales alone will be about $2 million! While there’s little question that
Glen Burnie owes its longevity to their ability to recognize the need for change, both Marvin and Mark credit their suc- cess to putting the customer first. “The reason we’re still here is
because our customers came first,” says Marvin. “It’s just a matter of taking care of the customer… make him at ease and take the pressure off.” “Sell your customer a superior
product at a fair price, and that’s what’s kept us successful for the last 50 years,” adds Mark. “We’re not fixing cars; we’re fixing people. We’re fixing their transportation problems.” And their customers respond to
that attitude by returning time and time again. At their 50-year celebration party, Glen Burnie offered a prize for
GEARS January/February 2012
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