When Robert Allen was looking for something to do in retirement, he decided to go into business with his son Brian and open their own automobile body shop to serve Millbrook , Alabama. Robert, who worked for more than 35 years as an electrician, had been trying to encourage his son, an accomplished mechanic, to go into business for himself. When Brian hesitated over the years, Robert took matters into his own hands and became Brian’s partner in the business. It is a fit that works well for both father and son. “I do all the bookkeeping and fill orders and things like that,” Robert says. “Brian knows everything about cars, and he handles the shop part. This is much better than just staying retired.”
In starting the company, they researched far and wide for a new steel building to house the business. Robert saw Allied Steel mentioned on television and liked what he heard, so he contacted the company. Through a confluence of factors, he found out there was a building that met his needs that was about to be built near the stock car racing track in Bristol , Tennessee. Robert designed the building himself, and also took the time getting his own permits with the city and setting up the building of the structure.
In Robert’s design, the 50- by 140-foot building is broken down to these specifications: The front of the building serves as office space where Robert works. There is an employee break room and a paint mixing room. The body shop itself is 50 by 90 feet. A major portion of the building is the 14- by 27-foot paint booth, which features a paint dryer. Due to the unique challenges of paint removal, this particular part of the building caused problems in pouring the foundation. “A 28- by 50-foot portion of the slab was for the paint booth and needed a down-draft spray vent to be erected on the site, and we had to build a tunnel underneath,” Robert says. “We ended up getting slowed down some in the process of getting that right.”
Robert says that Allied Steel worked with him through every step of the process in getting the building purchased and designed in the most effective way. He admits that much of what he learned was on-the- job training when buying and building the structure. “I couldn’t have done it without Allied Steel. They were great,” he says. “If I ever had any questions or any problems with anything, they would get me the answers I needed right away, send me e-mails, whatever.”
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