Fort Dodge Iowa Messenger News -
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Published on: 5/19/2004
Last Visited: 5/19/2004
A willingness to change with the times has helped Fort Dodge Transmission and Auto Clinic owner Tom Donney to succeed in his business.Originally Donney mainly repaired transmissions, and, while that's still a major part of his business, he has branched out since then.He has worked on cars all his life. Donney opened his first shop, Fort Dodge Transmission and Small Car Repair, in 1980, at the corner of 21st Street and Fifth Avenue South, where Fastway Stores is now located.He had graduated from Iowa Central Community College in the auto mechanics program and worked briefly for Automotive Service Center before opening his own business.Originally he did much of his work on foreign cars. ‘‘Saabs are my favorite," Donney said, but he also did a lot of work on Japanese and other European cars.That's changed. ‘‘Today, to survive you have to work on most (all vehicles).Twenty-four years ago that wasn't the case.You could specialize in just imports," he said.Donney added that, with today's global market, many auto parts are made in other countries, and there's not much difference between foreign and domestic cars. In 1993 Donney bought Dave's Auto Clinic from Dave den Hartog and moved his business, now called Fort Dodge Transmission and Auto Clinic, to its present site at 3553 Fifth Ave. S. Donney changed the business's focus as well as the location. ‘‘Prior to that, we basically just did transmission work.So many of the cars require diagnostic work that we were turning away lots of business," Donney said. ‘‘People came in with transmission problems, they thought, and instead it was a drivability issue with the computer or an engine-related problem, and we'd end up turning the people away, so we decided to capture some of that market." In 1994 Fort Dodge Transmission and Auto Clinic won the Small Business of the Year Award from the Fort Dodge Area Chamber of Commerce.Donney said they won the award for adding new jobs and for business growth. The next change came in 1995, when Donney added used car sales to the business.Actually a separate business but within the same corporation and on adjoining lots, Tom Donney Motors offers a good selection of pre-owned vehicles, ranging from SUVs and sedans to Donney's pick, the Saabs. ‘‘I like Saabs.I'm kind of a Saab nut," Donney said. ‘‘So we have Saabs around, too."He said they're not the best-selling vehicle in these parts, but they do have a lot to offer.Saabs are made in Sweden by the Swedish Aircraft Co. and continually rank high for safety. ‘‘They're usually voted the safest car in Sweden, year in and year out, based on accident reports," Donney said. At the auto clinic part of the business, transmission repair is still important. ‘‘We do everything, but our mainstay is still transmission business," Donney said.He estimated that makes up about 75 percent of the business, while the remaining 25 percent is general automotive repair.Those repairs may be major or they may be simple. ‘‘With today's cars being very sophisticated and all computerized, your ‘check engine' light can come on for a multitude of reasons, and many times it's a minor reason," Donney gave as an example. ‘‘Something as insignificant as not having your gas cap tight can turn your 'check engine' light on.So it's important when you have a light come on that you get it checked out and make sure it's nothing major." Most of the technicians are nationally certified, which means they passed a series of tests in specific areas of repair.The transmissions are under warranty for up to two years, but most customers choose a basic 90-day warranty, Donney said. Fort Dodge Transmission and Auto Clinic has 35 employees.Employees include Steve Reese, technical advisor, who has worked with Donney for 19 years; Brian Alcorn, technical advisor who just came to work here last fall, but has been ‘‘in the tranny business" since 1978 (both Alcorn and Reese graduated from Iowa Central with Donney); Steve Davis, service manager, who has been with the business since 1993; and Jerry Beck, office manager since 1994. Employees include Steve Reese, technical advisor, who has worked with Donney for 19 years; Brian Alcorn, technical advisor who just came to work here last fall, but has been ‘‘in the tranny business" since 1978 (both Alcorn and Reese graduated from Iowa Central with Donney); Steve Davis, service manager, who has been with the business since 1993; and Jerry Beck, office manager since 1994.
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