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 A resident of Oak Ridge since 1974, Chuck is married to Maryjeane Krusen Hope. They have two sons: Chuck, age 20 and John, age 15.
Since 1982, Chuck has been the owner/operator of Chuck’s Car Care Center, a full-service automotive repair center in Oak Ridge. He manages seven employees and a $550,000 annual budget. In addition to providing state-of-the-art automotive service, CCCC is also the oldest Budget Truck rental agency in the area. They are also the only propane refill facility in Oak Ridge. Chuck’s ability to organize, prioritize and delegate to control work flow, coupled with his analytical, interpersonal and leadership skills, make him a top candidate for working with customers and solving the day-to-day issues of a service oriented business. This background also provides the perfect backdrop for Chuck’s Community involvement. Chuck is an active member and Bronze Millennium partner of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, a graduate of Leadership Oak Ridge, in Dec. 2005. He was appointed to the Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board, in May 2006, and to the Board of Directors of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors for the CVB in June 2007. He is the Chair elect for the Chamber of Commerce in 2010. Chuck is involved in a wide array of sports including soccer, motor sports and golf. He also enjoys reading, hiking, gardening and woodworking.
Affiliations
· Youth soccer team coach in Oak Ridge for more than 13 years
· Coach administrator with AYSO Region 390 of Oak Ridge for 3 years
· Several Board positions with Tennessee Dirt Karting Association
· Involved with building homes for Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County
· Family was an Ulter Project host during July, 2005
· Serves on the building committee of Christ Community Church
· Field Coordinator/City Liaison for Soccer Club of Oak Ridge for over 2 years
Education
· Instructor of the Management Success Program (since 2005)
· Graduate of the Management Success Program (2004)
· Graduate of Leadership Oak Ridge (2005)
· Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certification (1991)
· Graduated from oak Ridge City Schools (1980)
I started Chuck’s Car Care Center in 1982 as a mom & pop service station at the ripe age of 19 years old. I had the opportunity to buy the business from a guy that had hit that wall of frustration and was looking for a way out. I grew up around the automotive industry as a young kid; my father had owned and managed several gas stations, as well as performed automotive repair work for himself. After graduating high school early and learning masonry work, I was determined to not follow my father into this trade. Life has a way of changing what you think you want to do and actually places you where you need to be when you least expect it. So at the age of 19, I took what money I had saved and a small loan from my father-in-law, a dose of ambition and a lot of dumb luck, and I opened Chuck’s Turnpike Gulf station.
I found out early on if I was going to stay in business, I needed to find some help. I asked my father to come onboard and work the service station with me. I put myself through Tech school at night and over the next couple of years did whatever it took to make it work. The same year I started my business, I married my high school sweetheart, Mary. During this time, Mary was very understanding of me working all the time, day, night and weekends.
Mary knew that one day, we would have a successful business and we would have time together later. All I can say is she has the patience of a Saint. Life went on and before I knew it, we had started a family. About this time, I received a piece of business information that has stuck with me to this day. A very wise man told me if I did not start to make time for my family and do things with them, they would be gone before I knew it. That very week, I stopped working on the weekends and have never worked on the weekends, or Holidays again. I guess my father knew from his own experience and it was one of the best prices of advice he has ever given me.
In 1991, I knew it was time for a change. If I was going to make Chuck’s bigger and better, I needed to stop selling gasoline and start looking for a larger place to work out of. This is when I moved the business down the Turnpike to begin the next chapter of Chuck’s. At the time, it was the biggest risk I had taken. I chose to stop selling gasoline and go strictly to doing automotive repair work. Hence, the business name change to Chuck’s Car Care Center. I was in the work harder and longer hours mode of doing business. I did not work on the weekends because it was Family time, but I made up for it by working 18 hour days during the week. This went on for some time until one day my youngest son asked me why I did not come home at night and read bedtime stories to him.
The next day I put a Help Wanted Ad in the paper and started the long process of moving myself out of the shop and into the front office full-time. This is how Chuck’s operated for the next several years. I was the Owner and Service Write and I had two Techs churning out the work in the shop. I thought I was making money on most days, but I was always coming up short when it was time to pay myself. Soon my bills started piling up and my dream of owning my own shop kept getting further and further away. Until one day, I looked up and saw the same guy I bought my business from staring back at me in the mirror while brushing my teeth. I had turned into that guy from so many years ago, the guy that had hit the wall of frustration. I was totally astounded. How could this happen to me?
I was deep in debt, barely making any money, and completely burned out. What was I going to do? As I started to talk about this to Mary, we started to discuss ways I could either close the shop and sale the equipment, or just close up and start working for someone else in town. At least them, I would be making a better salary. I started to see more and more of these fliers about how this company could help me make more money and I could spend more time with my family. They could help me with the black holes in my business, in my opinion; the whole business was a black hole that had just about sucked the life out of me.
One of the fliers talked about a seminar that was going to be in Nashville in January, 2004. With nothing to lose, I signed up for the seminar. To say that was the start of the biggest change of my business and my life is an understatement. I was not totally convinced that a company out of California could help change a small auto repair shop from the Hills of East Tennessee, but after a lot of hard work and a lot of changes, I am living proof that anyone can be helped by this program, if you put your mind and some hard work into it.
Over the last five years, I have been on a rocket ship of a ride. My business has grown by over 300%! This is amazing in itself, but to do this out of a 60 year old, two bay building, with no room for growth was miraculous to me. I was also able to pay off a substantial amount of my debt. It has allowed me to start dreaming again and to really spend time with my family.
Three years ago I had the opportunity to make an offer on the undeveloped parcel of property next door to my business. As of October, 2010, I was able to fulfill one of my life long dreams of owning my own building. I was able to design and build the shop of my dreams. The shop I have always wanted. The one my wife knew was within me to do if I was giving the right choices in life. My wife has had so much patience throughout my career as a shop owner. I now run a very successful business that has good people working toward a common goal, to make Chuck’s Car Care Center one of the best automotive repair facilities in our area.
I look forward to the future and in particular, the next five years. Where will the relationship with Management Success take me and Chuck’s? Can we grow another 300%? Only time will tell, but with the tools and knowledge I have gained I am confident it will happen, again.
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