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Northern Auto Repair brings three auto-techs together in business

Northern Auto Repair brings a personal touch to Havre with personal, hands-on, service, said part-owner Craig Shaw.

The repair shop is owned equally between Shaw, Zach Carlson and Matt Barkley, all of whom are graduates of Montana State University-Northern, who personally work on the vehicles themselves, with the goal of providing great service, Shaw said.

Northern Auto repair opened its doors in December at 2 Second St., the former Eddies Bread building.

Carlson said the business hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Havre-native Shaw said they had all been in the industry for a while before they decided to open up shop, with them all wanting to do something a little bit different, wanting a little bit of the American dream.

They have been pretty busy since they first opened the business, with more than 80 work orders in the past eight months with many repeat customers, Shaw said, adding that he believes the personal one-on-one interaction they have with their customers sets them apart from other repair shops around town.

Barkley said owning a business is scary but still fun. Their mission is to provide quality affordable service, while still being able to make a living, he said.

With just the three of them operating the entire facility customers don't have to work with anyone but the people who are actually working on their vehicle, he said.

Shaw said this was something that he's had in his mind over since he graduated from Northern He said he met Barkley while in school and remembers seeing Carlson, as well.

After graduation, Shaw said, he had worked in the field for 10 years before deciding to start the business. He added that during those years he worked with both Carlson and Barkley at times. After a while they began discussing opening their own shop, then decided that it was eventually time.

Shaw said they had all learned a lot while working in the business, learning from co-workers and through experience.

They do all kinds of mechanicking from changing brakes and oil to replacing engines and doing general repairs on cars, pickup trucks, and domestic and imported vehicles, Shaw said. He adding that they all work well together and because of their teamwork have a good average turn-around on vehicle repairs.

Carlson, who is a master certified auto technician, said he has lived in Havre since coming to Northern from Salt Lake City.

He said he and his co-owners are all happy to be doing what they love and they all like fixing things in general.

The feeling of being able to solve a problem that, maybe, nobody else has been able to figure out, is an amazing feeling, Carlson said.

He had his first parts job when he was 16 years old, he said, and started in the industry when he was 24.

Barkley has lived in Havre ever since he was 9 years old, originally moving from Kalispell.

He added that when he was 10 or 11 years old, he would help his dad with vehicle maintenance, where his interest in cars bloomed.

 

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