In 1986, 19-year-old Monte Craig started Arrow Transmissions in a tiny one-bay shop on Kietzke Lane.
This summer, Craig, now 42, eagerly anticipates opening what he calls one of the more modern automotive shops in northern Nevada.
The business will move into a new 18,000-square-foot building at 1995 Vassar Lane it's next to U.S. 395 with 10,000 square feet of shop and office space for Arrow.
Craig also will lease 5,400 square feet of space to Advantage Rent-A-Car, which will move its rental car operations from a small building at 1250 Terminal Way.
Craig says Arrow needed a major facilities upgrade to keep pace with today's technologically advanced vehicles. In addition to having wireless computerized diagnostic equipment in every bay, the multi-million dollar facility will accommodate large recreational vehicles, which Arrow cannot serve at its current location at 2825 Kietzke Lane.
"My industry is changing," Craig says. "Auto diagnostics is becoming key. We are finding very few shops can actually fix a car."
Craig says the new shop will work largely with new-car dealers and will service cars three to seven years old.
"They are the most difficult to fix with their computerized systems," he says. "There is a real demand to fix late-model cars."
Craig says the modernized facility also is designed to be easy on the environment. Waste oil and transmission fluid are to be recycled and burned as fuel to heat the shop in the winter. The reclamation system added to capital costs, but with current power bills running upwards of $1,500 a month, the new system is expected to pay itself off in just two years. In addition, high-density foam insulation was used in the roof, and skylights were installed and reflective paint applied to the shop floor to increase the use of daylight in work bays.
Heritage Bank provided financing for the project, which is being built by Paul McKenzie Construction of Truckee, a customer of Craig's for more than a decade. Arrow is hoping for a June 1 opening.
Advantage Rent-A-Car Corporate Secretary Marshall Fein says customer demand had outstripped the capabilities of the facility on Terminal Way for more than a year.
"We have been waiting for this to happen for a long time," says Fein. "We need a real facility, and this is a real facility that Monty is building. This (building) will be more efficient and enable us to grow further."
Advantage will continue to operate the Terminal Way facility as an overflow parking lot. The move should not affect Advantage's operations at 2105 Kietzke Lane. "We will need both facilities to keep the volume moving," Reno General Manager Andrew Love says.
