John Martin  is about to lose one of his employees. That’s a big hit for any busy shop, but the pain is multiplied for Martin not just because that employee is his college-bound son, Ryan, but because his departure will also reduce Martin’s core staff of four down to three.

This year, Johnny’s Auto Trim, the shop Martin and his family have operated in Alamosa, Colorado, since 1989, gained national attention when a 1962 Corvette built at his shop was named to the “Great 8” at the Detroit Autorama in February. That attention, furthered by Martin’s travels to car shows around the country with the honored Corvette (which you can read more about on Page 38), is bringing in more customers and demanding tough choices be made at the small shop.

“We’re kind of at a breaking point right now,” Martin said. “This Corvette has brought in a lot of new customers to us, so we’re at a spot in the game where we need to decide if we’re going to get bigger or if we’re comfortable with the size we’re at, and take it from there.”

Attracting New Employees

Staffing is a major factor in those decisions. Johnny’s Auto Trim is based in a small town located between Denver and Albuquerque. In the winter, temperatures can dip 30 degrees below zero. Finding qualified workers in the region, or ones who are willing to relocate, has been an ongoing challenge.

“Probably the hardest thing is finding help,” Martin said. “We have enough work that we could probably hire a couple of guys right now, [but] where we live is cold in the winter so it’s really hard to get people fired up to move here.”

Martin did consider relocating at one point, and was once even offered a job with Boyd Coddington in California.

“The difference [with] relocating is then you relocated to a place where there are 20 shops, the overhead is more expensive and the housing is more expensive,” he said. “I’ve always felt that your [labor] rates can go up but I don’t see where you’re making any more money.”

Instead Martin, a former bricklayer, decided to keep the business in the city he started it in over 20 years ago: Alamosa. Since then, it’s grown from a one-man shop operating out of the Martins’  living room to what it is today through help from his family.

“I was by myself forever and then when my son was old enough, he started working here with me when he was like 14, and then I have a nephew that started with me,” he said. “Now me, my nephew, my son [and] my teenage daughter [make up] my crew.”

Martin built his shop on the same property as his house so he could run the business and watch his kids. As the kids grew up, he brought them into the shop to learn various parts of the restoration process.

“I just pick and choose some projects that I think they can be pushed [by] but still handle to where we’re not doing it over two or three times because they don’t have the experience,” he said. “[I] can build them up in the areas that I need them the most, but they’re learning so I have to pick and choose where they can help me best.”

So far, customers haven’t had any concerns about their projects being built by a mostly teenage crew.

“The guy with the Corvette thought it was really cool that [the shop] was a family deal and younger guys [were] working on it,” he said. “A lot of his friends were skeptics, but we pulled it off so that was kind of cool.”

Avoiding Advertising

The “Great 8” Corvette was the third car that the team at Johnny’s Auto Trim had built for Bruce Milyard, and he is considering having another car built by the shop. That kind of loyalty is common amongst the shop’s customers.

“My biggest [asset] is repeat customers,” Martin said. “You already have the relationship built [with them] so it’s not like starting a new relationship. It just makes for a nice project when you already know how the guy is, how he thinks, what his ideas are, and you can just go into another project.”

Martin has developed friendships with many of his customers over the long hours invested in a build (the 1962 Corvette took over 10,000 hours). He also throws a celebration that includes roasting an entire pig once a build is complete.

“[I’d] invite people from the surrounding areas just to get them in my shop and let them know what’s going on,” he said. “It evolved from that to where if a guy is going to spend this much money, I’m really big on making the customers feel like they spend their money in the right place and they’re important to us. I want to let them know how important it is that they were willing to do it and that [it] allows me to feed my kids and pay my bills.”

Repeat and referral business has been the shop’s mainstay. Johnny’s Auto Trim has never advertised and only recently launched a website.

“I’m usually busy and that’s why I’ve never really advertised,” Martin said. “I’ve always been scared that if I did advertise and if I did get a website, that I would get too big.”

Networking with potential customers and suppliers at car shows this year pushed Martin to build a website, though he still has concerns about what the additional exposure will mean for his business.

“Through this year of traveling, everybody’s like, ‘What’s your website so I can get on there and look at it?’ so as I grow, I think that needs to happen,” he said. “Being under-staffed, it was always scary to me that I’m going to be sitting at the desk answering phone calls and questions and not getting the work done, but we’re evolving into something so I think I have to play the game.”

Leaving Home

Johnny’s Auto Trim’s future may also include moving into a new facility. Martin currently operates his business out of three buildings—two located on the same property as his family home and the third situated on 1 acre across the street. The entire operation could relocate to new buildings on that acre one day.

“To have everything across the street would be nice for me at this point in my career,” he said. “The kids are almost raised and there have been challenges having the shop right next to your house, it always seems like you’re at work. Although it’s going to be across the street, I will still utilize this building [on my property] for my office, but it would be nice to have all the work across the street.”

Like so many of Martin’s other plans for his business, the move is largely dependent on the shop being able to hire more employees.

“Our biggest challenge is finding people to work, so the new building and all of that kind of stuff really depends on what kind of help we can get,” he said.

Even if he could find a few more people to work in his shop, Martin isn’t entirely certain growing bigger would be best for Johnny’s Auto Trim.

“I’ve talked to a lot of guys with big shops and with more people, there are more headaches, and stuff that needs to go on,” he said. “Boyd [Coddington] said [to me], ‘Just stay small, stay with three or four guys.’”

Getting bigger could mean Martin would have less time to work on cars, a passion he doesn’t really want to give up.

“I think if we got too much bigger, your hands-on stuff goes away because you’re trying to run the office part of it,” he said. “Personally, maybe not economically, I’m not sure I want to be the desk guy because the part I love is doing [the work] and creating.”

Johnny’s Auto Trim:

Address:  1429 Ross Ave., Alamosa, Colorado 81101

Phone:  (719) 589-1018

Owners:  John & Jessica Martin

Services Offered:  Complete street rod shop and hot rod upholstery

Number of Employees:  4

Number of Current Projects:  4

Current Project Cars: 1935 Ford, 1955 Chevy, 1957 Cameo Pickup and 1957 Nomad

Website:  www.johnnysautotrim.com

Approximate Shop Size:  7,000 square feet

Years in Business:  22

(All photos by Jeff Laydon, Pagosa Photography)

Tags: Award Winners, Corvettes, Detroit Autorama, Great 8 Award, Hiring Employees, Johnny's Auto Trim, Midwest Rod Shops, Restorer Profile