PEOPLE OF THE INDUSTRY


Piecing It Together T


Kevin Fullerton Counselman, center of back row, poses with some of the people he served.


as a volunteer Director of Missions,” says Chad. “I participate in the church staff meetings and I have brought a business mind to the creative group of the 13 pastors on staff. I help facilitate 21 mission trips a year, with the help of a fulltime assistant, Denise Fill- ingim who is the administrative manager of missions. I provide leadership, recruit missions trip leaders, and deal with the financial aspects of the trips.” “I am proud that our participation has increased since I have been doing this. We saw a 51 percent in- crease, sending 137 people on missions trips to Indone- sia, Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Lebanon, Uganda, Tanzania, and domestic trips to Las Vegas, Cleveland and Houston, among others. Participants have the op- portunity to be funded one-half by our church and we help them fund-raise for the rest of the money. Most people don’t use personal money, as they are already sacrificing a week of their vacation to do this.” Of course, you’d think Chad’s recycling business is suffering because of this, but in fact he said he’s seen significant increases instead. “First of all, without John I could not do what I do. He runs the business like he owns it. His leadership allows me to take the time to do this role and also fulfill my ARA Executive Committee obligations. Additionally, we made the change to now convey much of leadership to our managers,” says Chad. Also, in combination with this, Chad started collabo- rating with two other businesses in different cities with weekly phone calls, sharing information and ideas that has changed the way he is running his business in many areas. The combined efforts of empowering his team and collaborating with other owners have pro- duced high measurable growth, to where his business was recognized on Inc.’s Top 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies 2011 and 2017, and most likely 2018. “We are the only salvage yards on the list,” says Chad, “and I am proud of that. God is pouring out a blessing on our efforts so I must be on the right path.”


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exas wide open spaces and big skies provide the perfect environment to dream up new ideas, work with your hands, drive fast cars, and make something of the land. In the small rural town of Graham, Texas, in north central Texas with a population of 8,850, auto recycler Kevin Fullerton, owner of K & K Motors Inc., has made the best of this Texas lifestyle. His business, which sells salvage auto parts and used cars, was built literally from the ground up and came from his own need for spare car parts. Through the years, he has created other niche businesses that have stemmed from his personal interests and passions. “I was in the half-day work program in high school which gave me a great excuse to drive instead of riding the bus,” explains Kevin. “I always had an interest in cars and pushing them to the limits, so I broke a lot of parts.” Kevin went through so many parts that instead of buying them piecemeal, he would buy another car just for its spare parts, “because I most likely would tear up something else and need more parts,” he jokes. Kevin started drag racing in the early 1980s, which also required a lot of more expensive parts. “I started buying other people’s race car collections for parts and sold off what was left. Eventually, we built a pipe frame building to work on ours and the neighbors’ cars, along with selling parts, and just kept hustling up more cars.” And that is how K & K Motors Inc. began in 1980 in Loving, Texas, a crossroads town with a population of 150. “My dad and I first set up a used car lot. A year lat- er, I opened my first official salvage yard, Loving Auto Salvage. We operated separately for a few years until we decided to combine them into one operation.” Now, Kevin is president of both operations, with the salvage yard as the main business, processing about 1,000 cars a year. K & K has 8,000-9,000 cars on their 77 acres, and is a huge presence in the area that attracts buyers from far and wide. It serves retail clients and other recyclers, primarily. “These days, the business seems to be trending to be more about price and parts than relationships, and I miss those days,” notes Kevin. “The used car lot is still operating, and we sell a limited number of cars; really help those who need a vehicle. I take about anything for a trade in.” Fast forward to 2013, Kevin was looking for a way to squeeze a few more dollars out of this inventory with- out a lot of effort, and researched ways to do it. In the end, he created what he could not find. “PartingOut. com is a dual-sided marketplace. People that have parts for sale meet people seeking parts to buy. So my job is to attract people to post there from both the sell- ing and part needs side of the deal.”


July-August 2018 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING


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