Some Call It The American Dream ....

After working 20 plus years for several different dealerships, Jack Harris dreamed of having his own paint and body shop. He definitely had the experience, but he knew financing and timing would be the key to success. When his kids were finally out of school the time seemed right. In 1983 Jack and his wife Celia took a second on their home and bought some land in Kaysville, Utah. On this land they built the foundation of what Jack Harris Painting and Autobody now entails. With only one bodyman, Harris opened for business and within a couple of years had eight employees. In 1992 an additional 8000 sq ft was added to the original 3750 and within five years another five employees were brought on board.

From day one Harris strived to run a debt-free business - not an easy thing to do. His philosophy was and is to grow "one step at a time". Growth was determined by finances and business volume and when they did expand, it was done with careful planning. This game plan has served Harris well as the business has expanded three times since conception and a fourth is in the foreseeable future.

Phase three was the most aggressive when Harris added an RV, bus, tractor and trailer facility. They can now handle the smallest jobs to the largest of jobs. If it goes down the highway, Jack Harris can repair and paint it. This new expansion includes a downdraft spray booth measuring 60 feet long, 16 feet wide and 18 feet tall and is equipped with a center divider. Harris says the ventilation system is so good that you can paint a red car in one half and a white car in the other without a problem. The sheer size of the booth allows them to paint anything from a bus to a car laid out in pieces, ensuring a perfect color match.

Today Jack Harris Painting and Autobody occupies a whopping 20,450 square feet and works on an average of 150 cars and other rigs a month. The facility includes 16 body stalls (4 with frame straighteners), 20 prep stalls, four bays for mechanical work and two wash and detail bays. In addition to the bays there are four paint booths not including the giant truck booth. The next expansion will likely include four more bays for mechanical repairs to eliminate the jobs they currently have to sublet.

One of Harris' employees has been with him from day one. Several others from early on. In fact, he prides himself on the extremely low turnover rate over the years. One of his painters, Mike Robertson, has worked with Jack since 1975 when they were both working in dealerships. Joining Mike as painters are Brett Harris and Rod Harris. What started with two is now 18 full time employees including five heavy line repairmen and four prep guys who help the painters. Rounding out the crew is a partsman and detailer. Overseeing it all is shop foreman, Scott Mason. But Harris is never far away handling the day-to-day management duties and helping out with customer estimates.

Even though the backbone of Jack Harris Painting and Autobody is garden variety insurance class stuff, Jack's heart is into custom work. This includes everything from his own race cars to world class customs that require complete restoration and exotic candy or pearl paint jobs. His state-of-the-art facility offers the ideal workplace for a custom painter's imagination to run wild. In fact, in 2001 Harris hosted an absolute legend of the custom car world, the late Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Over a week's time, Roth, Harris and crew prepped, painted and striped what would be Big Daddy's very last project. Tribute To Ed Roth

Back in 1987 Harris hooked up with PPG and has been using their painting products exclusively ever since. JHPA is now a PPG certified shop offering their lifetime paint performance guarantee and I-Car certification. His shop currently has three mixing stations, one for each painter, each dedicated to a different PPG product line (Deltron, Omni and Global). Working with PPG, Harris has developed the most efficient usage of each product for every individual situation. This way Harris can ensure that each job not only gets the PPG paint it requires, but that the color matches are perfect. Overall it's been a win win relationship for the last 15 years that included PPG stepping up as an associate sponsor for Harris' Nitro Thunder Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster.

Today Harris is very pleased with the way his business has developed over the last two decades. He feels his success is due in part to honesty and good quality workmanship. He believes in building lasting relationships and wants his first-time customers to be repeat customers. To this end, as a working owner, he knows his accessibility and presence in the shop gives customers an added sense of security and trust. Any regrets? Harris smiles and says, "Sure do. I wish I would have done this ten years sooner."