Thankful for a Great Team and a Wonderful Year

Thankful for a Great Team and a Wonderful Year

The Christmas Season is upon us and we have a lot to be thankful for at Dynamic Automotive.  Having been in business since 1995 we have found one thing that is essential to operating a growing business in the service industry. Its people! You must have great people to be able to grow and provide excellent customer service. We are in the automotive repair industry but we are truly in the people business. It’s true we have to have the ability to repair and maintain our customer’s vehicles but it’s the interaction between the team at Dynamic Automotive and our clients that makes their experience memorable. I believe we have one of the best teams in the industry. I’m not the only one. Dynamic Automotive was voted Best of the Best Auto Repair for 2016 in the Frederick News Post. That’s only possible when you have a team of people that care and do their best to make sure the customer is taken care of. It is such a great honor to have people of Frederick choose us. There are so many choices in auto repair and the fact we were voted best, makes us very proud. We also won a Best Customer Service Award in Maryland (North) from an organization known as Vehicles for Change. This was a state level award that was judged from interviewing, answers summited from questionnaire, online reviews and online customer voting. It was truly a great year for Dynamic and we are thankful that we were recognized for our efforts.
We like to celebrate every year at this time with our annual Christmas party. This year was no different but I must say I think it was one of our best. The last few years we have had our celebration at the Woodsboro American Legion. We need their large hall because we like to bring everyone together. Having over 30 people in the organization can add up. We encourage our team to invite people that are special to them. It’s nice to have spouses, kids, moms, dads and best friends join us. What better way to celebrate then with the ones that are most important to us. One of the best parts about being an owner is getting to know the families behind our team. Over the years we have gotten pretty close and I always like to welcome them to the party in our opening remarks and remind them that they are a key part of what makes Dynamic Automotive great! After everyone gets some food in their belly and the music starts we take a few moments to say thanks. We thank each member of Dynamic Automotive; without them none of this would be possible. We thank their families for their support and some of our customers and vendors who are there for their dedication.  The part I enjoy the most is recognizing a few individuals who excelled throughout the year. We are picky about why someone gets an award. They need to have accomplished something special, above whats considered normal and achieved something amazing.
The first award winner was Jason Sexton, Service Writer, at our Urbana location. Paul Foster, Urbana’s service manager, presented the award to him. Jason has been with us for over 5 years and he has grown into one of the best customer service representatives I have ever met. He has taken the time to invest into his craft and it has paid off. We have had countless positive comments about Jason and how he has made their experience not only positive but he was able to exceed their expectations. Because of his efforts to improve himself both personally and professionally he was awarded “Above and Beyond Award”. He says he can always do better and can always learn more. These beliefs have proven to be beneficial to his success.
Our second award winner, presented by Quick lube Manager Roberto Blasini, was Walter Granados, Team Leader, from our Urbana location. Walter is a team member you can set your watch by. He is always early for work, keeps himself productive, understands all aspects of his duties and has a great attitude. He is the first to accept a job and he is a great team trainer. One of the defining principles that makes Dynamic successful is our emphasis on training. Walter doesn’t just take the time to train himself, he invests in others by spending the time to train them. His demeanor and knowledge are two great qualities that helps us succeed.  Knowledge is a gift and Walter has the ability to give that to his coworkers. He is the example we all look up to and learn from. These qualities have earned him our “Dedicated to Service Award”.
The third award is a special award to me, as I presented the award to Paul Foster.  Paul was promoted to Service manager in Urbana at the beginning of the year. He has spent his life honing his craft as a Master ASE Technician.  Paul is one of the best technicians I have ever met. He has spent a lifetime working hard to become one of the best. When we were planning the opening of our 4^th store Bob, who was the service manager at the time, was picked to head that location. He recommended Paul to assume his duties. I was reluctant because I had not seen the leadership skills he would need to run our busiest shop.  Boy was I wrong. This is proof to always listen to your team. Sometimes others have a better idea. Paul has made a transformation into a great leader that wants to be successful and is willing to invest the time and effort to make it happen. He has come up with new ideas, acted on them and got buy in from his team by including them. Because of his efforts to become a leader that is admired, he was awarded the “Leading by Example Award”. He has done a wonderful job leading his team and I look forward to seeing where he will take us next year.

Our fourth award was presented by Sara Abrecht, New Market location manager, to Garrett Geisler, New Markets lead technician. Garrett has taken the lead at the New Market location. While understaffed for a large part of the year Garrett took it upon himself to come in early, stay late and work on his days off to make sure our customers got their vehicles back when they needed them. While working the extra hours he still found time to invest into his trade by attending multiple training events throughout the county.  Because of his dedication to the company and our customers, he was awarded “Dedicated Service Award”.
Our fifth award went to Todd Zimmerman, location manager at our Libertytown Location and was presented by my business partner, Jose` Bueso.  Todd has taken over leadership of the Libertytown location and he has made it his own store. He has invested the time, even when on his own time, to make Liberty successful. He has invested every effort to build the business while taking care of our current customers. His focus is key to our success and his ambition is invigorating. Because of his efforts he has been awarded “Making a Difference”. Todd is always going the extra mile to make sure we are successful.
Our sixth award went to Bob Allen, Vice President of Operations and Location manager at our newest store in Frederick. It’s easy to do the same thing you have always done, to go to work and perform the same tasks over and over. It takes courage to try something different. To step out of your comfort zone and tackle a new duty. Bob did that when he found out that we were entertaining the idea of opening our forth location. He asked to take on the mission of expansion. Not only did he volunteer he poured everything into it. Starting a new store is not an easy task. You have to develop a team, set up procedures, create a customer base and invest time and effort into developing a new business. Bob has taken the challenge and is on his way to making it a success. Because of this he was awarded “Accepting the Challenge Award”. Bob has taken the bull by the horns and is finding a way to build a location that is respected and successful.
10 years…..10 years is a long time. In today’s age it’s rare to have someone stay at a job for 10 years.  We are blessed to have such a person, Rebekah Pavlovsky. She has spent the last 10 years keeping us on track. She does our bookkeeping and accounts payable for the company. She is a great friend that is always the first to volunteer to help out. For this achievement in tenure and dedication we have awarded her a crystal clock and a bonus for her allegiance. She is a key part of our success and is what makes us great. We wouldn’t know what to do without her.
This year’s Christmas party is all about thanks. Dynamic is blessed to have so many great team members. By investing in them, they have taken their knowledge and empowerment to make the entire organization better. We are truly a team that is stronger together then we are as individuals. As a team we are unbeatable, we will continue to always better ourselves and continue to succeed.
Merry Christmas!
Dwayne Myers