The mix of work in this shop is unique as well. He always has a few high-end customer restorations in the shop. "I tell the customer that their car may take

Black Mountain Body Shop owner Howard Blackburn leans against the hitching post -- generally reserved for horses -- in front of the Wagon Wheel Coffee Shop located in his parking lot.

Black Mountain Body Shop's roll bed sits in front of the shop with scenic Black Mountain itself looming in the background.

more than a year to complete," says Blackburn. "The restoration work does not get in the way of the insurance work. With this crew, it is a perfect mix, they can fill in on the restoration work between insurance jobs."

No DRPs

At this point in time, Blackburn is not on any insurance direct repair programs. "We work with all insurance companies," he points out, "I think DRPs are good for some and not good for others. I work hard at being competitive and doing quality work for my customers."

His philosophy is unique in today's market. "This is like going fishing. You catch a fish or two - you don't need to catch all the fish." This attitude works well for Black Mountain Body Shop.

"Business is good. If it gets any better we will have to expand," states Blackburn. "This is the first summer we have not had a summer slow down. Cave Creek used to be a ghost town in the summer - all the new development is changing that."

Black Mountain's crew has been working together, well, since the beginning. Blackburn gives them a lot of credit for the shop's success. He may see things differently than other shop owners or managers. His many years of experience have shown him that technicians are controlling the quality. "If I fill my shop with inexpensive work, then how can I expect the technicians to control their quality. You cannot manage quality - it has to come from the technicians themselves. We do the work properly. It is not cheap, but it doesn't have to be expensive either. And our goal is to try to do it right the first time."

Cave Creek is a fast growing neighbor of North Scottsdale. The once sleepy little gold mining town is full of exclusive horse properties, restaurants, bars, and one collision repair facility - Black Mountain Body Shop. Blackburn gets his business from the community. "We have a good reputation," smiles Blackburn. "We get repeat business and our customers send their friends and family to us. The bottom line is service.

"If you don't do quality work in Cave Creek, everybody in the coffee shop will know the next morning," Blackburn laughs.

Janet Chaney has been in many facets of the collision industry. She is serving the best interest of her clients through Cave Creek Business Development. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it