The community has always supported our business. It made sense to build here. – C.J. Paterniti
Chardon has experienced an influx of national chain retail stores over the last decade or so — Walmart, Big Lots, Home Depot and Tractor Supply — as well as restaurants like Bob Evans.
Commercial operations are next on the list.
Leading the way is D&S Automotive Collision and Restyling, an 11,000-square-foot brick garage that opened Jan. 4 as a one-stop-shop for drivers with vehicle issues.
Within the week, automotive specialists employed by owner C.J. Paterniti — a 2002 graduate of Chardon High School and current Hambden Township resident — processed a handful of local cars and trucks with more appointments on the books.
While only in his 30s, Paterniti has a lifetime of experience in the industry, having learned the business at the knee of his father, Carmen Paterniti, spending much of his youth absorbing fundamentals and details in family operations.
“It was always my dream to work for my dad,” he said.
By the time C.J. graduated high school, his father owned body shops in Euclid and Mentor, he said. It seemed natural to pursue the family operation while in college.
“I really looked at the back end of the business,” C.J. said, adding he also chose electives that “…entertained my appetites.”
It became clear to him as he studied demographics that much of the D&S clientele came from the Chardon area and that Geauga County would be a good location for future expansion.
“The community has always supported our business. It made sense to build here,” he said, adding the community promises more residential and business growth in the next five years.
He spent a lot of time strategizing with friends and acquaintances from New York to Texas. A friend in the Wooster area with 11 stores convinced C.J. an 11,000-square-foot building would be the most efficient for an independent operation, he said, and the planning began.
Two years ago, C.J. bought the 1.75-acre lot on Fifth Avenue in Chardon and started the wheels turning toward construction. The project accelerated last summer under the guidance of Carmen Paterniti.
Progress leaped ahead, with up to six trades working on the project at a time.
“That never happens,” C.J. said, adding his father, as general contractor, had done business with many contractors at one time or another, so they all worked in harmony. Carmen oversaw construction of the D&S headquarters, built three years before, as well as a shop on Tyler Boulevard in Mentor, C.J. said.
Originally, D&S specialized in van conversions, but has evolved into installing after-market accessories like remote starters and lifted tires as well as accident repair.
Painting is a primary service at D&S and much of the shop is equipped and designed to provide environment-friendly processes and supplies.
For instance, the paint preparation area has a down-draft exhaust and filter system, and the paint is water-based with no smell or contaminants, C.J. said.
Only the clear finish coat is urethane-based, he said.
The climate-controlled painting booth includes wall and ceiling lighting that simulates sunlight, C.J. said, adding the area also has a down-draft system.
“I have a few dollars invested in this,” he said.
The new facility cost about $1.5 million and C.J. has four employees there with plans to hire six more in the next six months. The Mentor shop has 25 workers and there are 10 in Euclid, he said.
He is also president of Defender Auto Glass, housed in the Mentor facility, an operation that has four workers on the road six days a week replacing or repairing windshields and windows.
D&S is set up to make sure traffic flows smoothly, C.J. said.
Vehicles are dropped off inside a clean, comfortable bay where an assessment and cost estimate are made, he said.
The vehicle is then disassembled, a second assessment is made and insurance coverage is verified because there is often damage that may not be initially visible, he added.
“Cars are nothing but plastic now,” he said, so the customer will be consulted after the re-evaluation.
Once the parts arrive, the repairs are made, any painting necessary is done and the vehicle is detailed. Vehicles may be loaned to customers from the D&S fleet of rental cars, C.J. said.
Besides choosing a location that promises a good customer base, C.J is also looking to the future on the employee side, arranging to work with students from Auburn Career Center who have an affinity for garage work.
“If a student has the mechanical aptitude, I can teach them the rest,” he said.
D&S has also entertained a class of elementary students with a tour of the new facility in an effort to encourage them to consider a career in the industry, C.J. said.
All D&S operations work together, making it possible for one to absorb workload if one facility is in especially high demand, he said.
More information is available at www.dsautomotive.com or by calling 440-602-5254.
