attention to detail, because it’s usually the small things that cause big problems.”
Ali Ghaddar is the kind of technician skimmed from the right part of the barrel. “He was actually hired by my father, Mohammed,” Ahmad explains. “He started working with us as a technician and in no time at all his management experience from other automotive shops came shining through. So when my father stepped out of the business, I brought Ali into the office to help me run things. Ali proved to be an invaluable employee. When the Oakville operation became a reality, Ali became an equal partner in the business. And while he’s a great technician, he’s an even better business owner. His attention to detail is masterful and he treats our customers with the respect expected by CRS Automotive customers.” Regardless of their skillset in the bays, their attention to detail under the hood, or their boardroom prowess, Ahmad is quick to point out that his employees are endur- ance athletes first and foremost. “Our hours and size of the shops make us a force,” he insists with a notable tone of pride. “When you have 13 hours each day with 10 bays in Hamilton for six days a week and 8 bays in Oakville for seven days a week, you’re going to get a lot of work done. We work this hard because we love what we do and we know it makes a big difference to customers who don’t have to wait the industry-standard amount of days to get their vehicle back.”
The crème de la crème for Ahmad are those Automo- tive Service Technicians who are certified by The Inter- provincial Standards Red Seal Program. “All of our tech- nicians are licensed by the ministry and have their Red Seal,” he explains. But always the consummate student, Ahmad emphasizes that “We do higher apprentices to take care of small jobs while learning the finer points of the trade alongside a licensed tech. With the appren- tices we hire, we do our best to ensure they get time to go to school and receive hands on instructions from our licensed technicians.” “In Oakville we are surrounded by new and high-end car dealers and many of them use us on a daily basis for services they don’t do themselves. We take on wheel alignments, service off-brand vehicles, perform emissions testing, you name it. We’re constantly seeing that kind of business our way.”
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • AUGUST 2016
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