Underneath the hood: Jared Rutberg opens up

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Underneath the hood

Local auto shop owner details humble beginnings, COVID impact

By SARAH DAVIS

news@covnews.com

Newton County resident Jared Rutberg opened Kwik Change Lube & Service Center in January 2009 because of his concern for the 2008 recession. After finding success in his first auto shop, he decided to expand and open a second shop, Covington Pro Lube, in 2011.

At both of his auto shops, Rutberg places an emphasis on family and community even down to the detail of the company name. In the name of his first shop, the ‘K’ in Kwik and ‘C’ in Change stand for RUTBERG his two eldest sons Kyle and Connor, respectively. Additionally, Rutberg said he treats his employees like family by being flexible to their needs.

“We try to work with the employees as far as their family situations,” Rutberg said. “ … One of my employees [was] having a problem with the bus picking their kid up on time, so Jennifer changed the schedule, so that she could make sure a kid got on the bus and get that taken care of.”

After graduating from Springfield College in 1995 with a degree in physical education, Rutberg joined the U.S. Army, serving as a commander in Afghanistan and Korea. Rutberg said that his military experience taught him leadership roles that influence how he runs his business. The operations manual is formatted in an orderly military style and employees are trained to memorize and use a firm set of callouts when operating on a vehicle.

In these systems of call-outs, the “hood techs” working on the front of the car yell messages to those at the customer service desk as well as to the mechanics in the “pit” of the shop. This communication consists of a call-out and then a

response, verifying the message’s transmission. Communication is “very important” at the shop, said hood tech Jenny Cloud, who has worked at Covington Pro Lube for two-and-a-half years.

“If a car comes in and they don’t need an oil change, we need to let everybody know who’s involved,” Cloud said. “ … When they call out the information it’s so everyone in the shop can hear it. Everyone knows what’s going on so there’s no miscommunication.”

Rutberg said one of the main principles in his business is accountability.

“I see 21,000 vehicles a year,” Rutberg said. “At some point, I’m gonna make a mistake somewhere. To me, the way to evaluate a company is not how they are when things are going well, it’s what do they do when things aren’t going well. Everybody looks like a superstar when things are going well, but when things don’t go well, how do they handle it?”

On one recent occasion, Rutberg drove to Johnson City, Tennessee, after a customer called in and reported car problems.

“It wasn’t anything that had to do with us, but it happened to be a few days after she had gotten an oil change and she had a separate issue,” Rutberg said. “I drove up there and ended up hauling her vehicle back.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rutberg’s businesses were able to stay open under the category of “essential business.” The two auto shops adjusted cleanliness standards to ensure the safety of employees and customers.

The customer bathrooms were closed, as was the customer waiting room at the Pro Lube location, while the Kwik Change location has a socially distanced area for customers. Employees disinfect customer pens, take daily temperature checks and limit going into customer vehicles.

A glass divider between customers and employees at the customer service desk was also put up to ensure the safety of customers and staff. This is one of the safety measures that Rutberg said will stay in place even after the pandemic has ended to prevent the spread of other viruses, such as the flu.

In terms of the ramifications the pandemic has had on business, Rutberg said he feels lucky.

“I don’t see any long term impact for us,” Rutberg said. “Not like restaurants, office spaces, regular retail. They’ve had changes that I don’t think they’re ever going to fully go back to the way it was before.”

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