To earn a few extra dollars when he was fifteen years old, Jim Bowersock started working evenings at George's Alignment in West Salem. During the following twelve years, George taught Jim everything he knew about cars, customers, and business. As the years went by, Jim developed a dream of owning his own shop - a dream that he shared with Jake Schlabach. Their dream turned to reality on April 1, 1998 when Jim and Jake opened Jim & Jake's Automotive, Inc. in a small rented bay.

Jim and Jake traveled as far as West Virginia to attend auctions where they purchased the tools and equipment they'd need for their garage. Friends and family lent their support as they helped build an office, paint, install an overhead garage door, and most importantly, became the repair shop's first customers. Starting their business on a part time basis, Jim and Jake found their business growing a lot faster than anyone had imagined, and, within a very short time, they both left their full time jobs to begin working full time in their own garage.

Due to the rapid growth of their business, Jim & Jake's Automotive added a second, larger bay in January 1999 and hired their first employee and current Shop Manager Sean Shadley in May. By the time September rolled around, their landlord offered to sell them the land and the building that housed their shop. By accepting his offer, they were again able to increase the size of the shop by expanding even further into the building. Now commanding a six bay garage, Jim and Jake began hiring more employees to keep pace with their growing business.

In late 2001, Jim purchased Jake's stake in the business, changed the name to Jim's Auto Center, and continued to build his dream. During a recent visit, Jim brought us up to speed on his company's services and philosophy;

Jim's Auto Center handles pretty much everything except transmission rebuilding and body work on all types of vehicles up to the size of a one ton van. We do brakes, tires, alignments, suspension and exhaust work, diagnostics and tune-ups, transmission flushes, oil changes, chassis work, towing, and pick up and delivery service for our customers.

We have ASE Certified technicians and a secretary working in the shop in addition to myself. Our employees are the key to our business and they're all very dedicated and do whatever it takes to please our customers. From their very first day, they're taught that our customers are our first priority and the way we demonstrate that is with small town friendliness and unswerving honesty. We strive to earn our customers trust by never selling a part or service that's not needed and by keeping them up to date on the true condition of their vehicles. Our prices are very reasonable and we try to do extra little things like our pick-up and delivery service for our customers without charge. We're presently in the process of getting our dealer's license so we can extend our line of services to providing our customers with top quality used cars, too.

Our main objective to opening our business in Wooster was to bring the feeling of a small town garage into a bigger city. We treat all of our customers like good friends and we stay active in the community by sponsoring and donating to local fund raisers, school functions, bowling and softball teams, Wooster's fireworks display, and the Wayne County Speedway racers. It's really a friendly garage and our customers have shown their appreciation by bringing in everything from homemade pies, cookies, candies, fruit, and complete meals for all of our employees during the holidays so we know we must be doing something right!

Trust your vehicle to the expert care and friendly service you'll find at Jim's Auto Center. Schedule an appointment by calling Jim today and don't forget to tell him that The Advocate sent you!

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