SPOTLIGHT ON

A few of the faces of Cocoa Auto Salvage who help make this Gold Seal recycler team successful.

for their retail customers and wholesale customers, as well. Doug would repair cars during the day and run the wrecker at night. Linda did the bookkeeping at night after fi nishing her full-time job at the local Coca- Cola bottling plant, while taking care of two small children, Shan and her brother, Steve. By 1978, already having a service station, repair shop and tow business, the logical addition was the founding of Cocoa Auto Salvage. With only a few acres and two employees, inventory was tracked by memory and sales were mainly to local folks needing a cheaper way to repair their broken down vehicles. The business eventually transitioned into being fully dedicated to auto recycling.

By the early 2000s, the couple went into semi-retire- ment and McMillon moved into running the other side of the business. “As I had more time, I would take on front end roles, employees, processes and procedures,” Shan says. “For a time my brother, Steve, and I had run the business together, but having other business inter- ests, he eventually transferred it to me.” Among the vast changes over the last half-century, one thing that has not changed is the dedication to

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maintaining a superior reputation in the community and by doing the right thing for both customers and employees. This best-in-class operation customarily has inventoried vehicles averaging 11 years in age in the full service. In total they process approximately 1,800 units yearly with 16 employees, many whom have been with the business for many years. Their commitment to the customer is to be a lead- ing supplier of quality, used auto parts by providing a superior product alternative for vehicle repair. Their mission statement refl ects their Gold Seal excellence– “We will exceed the expectations of our customers while utilizing state-of-the-art technology. We will combine professionalism, integrity and an attitude of ultimate customer satisfaction to establish ourselves as the most trusted name in our industry. Our com- mitment to the environment and our ‘green’ policies will be evident in all operations.” As for her family, McMillon has been married to Tim McMillon for 5 years, who is also an auto recycler with his own business in a different town. “We don’t talk busi- ness at home,” she says. She has two daughters, Kaitlyn, 16, and Madison, 18, and a stepson, Jordan, who is 19.

March-April 2018 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING