The name of Rosslyn Autobody is a little confusing: The shop isn’t actually located in Rosslyn. It began in 1937 in the Virginia town, but it moved twice while retaining its original name. Its current home, since 2015, is in Alexandria, a metro area of Washington, D.C., just outside the Capitol Beltway.
What’s not confusing is the shop’s ongoing success and the simple recipe manager Kris Burton has used to put it in place.
Specialization in the Shop
The family-owned business repairs about 75 cars a month. Burton runs the show; his father, Steve Burton, is still an owner, but stepped back from daily operations in 2019.
Steve is deaf and found his niche in body shops as he searched for an industry in which he could communicate with managers, Kris explained. Steve bought the shop in the 1990s, and Kris came on during his college years to help with front office work. His role expanded over the years, and now, he manages 23 employees working about 30,000 square feet of shop space. Encouraging specialization among techs has served the business well.
“We run a little bit differently than most shops. We’re pretty specialized in the types of repairs and then also the roles that we have here,” he told Autobody News. “All disassemblies, reassemblies happen in a certain place, and then body and paint happens in a different place. The same people that take the car apart are not the same people that put the car back together.”
The complexity of vehicle repair today requires more focus, he explained, which makes specialization make more sense. Without it, the shop would have trouble meeting requirements for safe repair.
“You just can't be everything to everybody all the time,” he said.
A Commitment to Apprenticeship
“We have a lot of apprentices here,” Kris said. “We have maybe five or six people under the age of 22.”
There’s been a lot of interest in the opportunity from local programs, and Rosslyn has partnered with Edison Academy at nearby Thomas Edison High School and Northern Virginia Community College for a steady stream of participants. Kris is entwined on a personal level with the local learning atmosphere; he’s on the advisory councils at both schools and he frequently helps with the high school program.
The shop has maintained its current location in Alexandria, VA, near Washington, D.C., since 2015.
Rosslyn puts a focus on systematic work for its apprentices.
“To me, it's always been ‘How you start is how you finish,’” Kris said. “Start clean, finish clean, so I put a lot of emphasis on the disassembly process, just making sure that's a whole process in itself. I don't feel like enough time is spent on that, so that was something we really focused on.”
Apprentices learn to disassemble and reassemble every vehicle the same way, load all parts on parts carts and catalogue and organize parts as they go.
The idea that younger people don’t want to be involved in the industry doesn't line up with Kris’ experience, but he did concede that certain elements have to be there to create an interest. Integrating understanding and opportunity into the work experience for a younger generation helps, he said.
“I think they do want to get involved in this industry, but I do think that they want to be at a place where they're supported and they can feel like they can grow and where they can make mistakes and they're not chastised or fired immediately,” he said.
On the flip side, the apprentices need to benefit the shop, and Kris has found ways to maximize that possibility.
“I think it's important to find the right people. We hire for attitude, not for experience, and then we train them up through our system,” he said. “We've had the best luck growing people internally than we have hiring somebody from somewhere else.”
Building a Workforce and Looking to the Future
Building that workforce in a competitive, consolidated market can be challenging. The shop’s neighbor is a large MSO store, Kris pointed out. But the way Rosslyn does things, he said, is appealing to younger people looking to get into auto body repair. At Rosslyn, apprentices get to work on ADAS and EVs, and they get to do it in a neatly kept atmosphere.
“Back in the day, shops were dirty, dusty dungeons, and I don't think that all places are like that,” Kris explained. “We try to keep our place a little bit cleaner, so it's a little more appealing to the youth.”
Investing in young people through the apprentice program is a gamble, Kris admitted. Some stay on at the shop; some don’t.
“Our lead ADAS tech is 20 years old now, and he started with us when he was 16,” he said. “We have had a lot of kids that have started with us and then just found out that's not what they want to do, and that's OK. So, I know going into it that not every single person that I hire is going to stay here … One kid went and joined the Coast Guard, one kid went on a mission with his church.”
As he looks to the future, Kris is focused on diversification of offerings and certification with a greater number of brands to offer up-to-date services. As the industry changes, he sees industry members online complaining about the complexities. His outlook is proactive.
“At the end of the day, you control your own fate and your own destiny. If you don't like your market, change it,” he said. “You control your future.”
Elizabeth Green