Rebranded

Two significant and correlated businesses in Prineville, OR, have recently changed ownership.

High Desert RV and Auto Repair and Dave Barlow’s Auto Body Shop were recently acquired and taken over by Mike Montgomery, who also has RV repair shops in Bend, OR, and Vancouver, WA. High Desert RV and Auto Repair is now branded to Pro RV Repair, Prineville.

“I bought it April 1,” said Montgomery. “I have two other RV repair shops. I saw an opportunity when this one came for sale, and I wanted to expand anyway. I am trying to create a geographic brand.”

He was familiar with Prineville, as he has an uncle and cousins who live in the county. With the amount of people moving from large cities to small towns, and the expectation of 10,000 people per year moving to Central Oregon, Montgomery said it made sense to have an RV repair.

“Everyone has an RV here,” he said of the Crook County.

Montgomery added Pro RV Repair also services horse trailers and stock trailers, including those that have living quarters. Other offerings include servicing systems on RVs for electrical, hydraulic and plumbing; repair and replacement of all appliances; roof and ceiling replacements and repair; and repair of chassis and brakes on RVs.

On the other side, it provides full RV collision repair, including body repair and collision repair for RVs and trailers. It has a full paint room and can fabricate fiberglass.

“We do that in all of our shops,” he added.

Montgomery explained the decision to buy his uncle’s auto body shop also made sense and was a strategic move.

“It became opportunistic to buy my uncle’s business, Dave Barlow’s Auto Body, in town. We outsourced that collision repair to them, so they would come over here and do the work. When he wanted to retire, I did not want to lose that connection,” Montgomery added.

He said Dave Barlow decided to fully retire, and they have rebranded the shop to Pro Collision Repair. The repair staff from this auto body shop contract out the collision repairs for Pro RV Repair.

“It’s a really good fit,” he said. They have also hired additional technicians and are looking to hire more help.

“We are looking for more technicians at both places. The skill set does not have to be long-standing RV repair technician. If someone is handy and works well with tools— the three most important things for me are initiative, accountability and do not give up until you found a solution,” Montgomery emphasized of his work ethic.

He indicated another advantage of the shops in Bend and Prineville is their ability to flex and move expertise where they may need it, depending on circumstances. He may send one of their technicians to Bend when they need extra help, or vice versa. They have a full crew of RV technicians, with eight bays at any given time.

He added that an RV technician has specific skills.

“Primarily, they are really handy, because they have to work on a lot of different stuff---electrical, plumbing, hydraulic, propane and carpentry work.”

He said often, when they must replace a roof, it requires replacement of the of the underlayment or wood structure.

“That is why a good RV technician is worth their weight in gold. We have a great team. This is a wonderful team here, both in the office and out in the shop. They are true professionals; they really take their job seriously and they take their knowledge seriously and make sure to take care of customers.”

His team includes a parts manager, Rodger Casey, and business manager/bookkeeper, Ashley Yancey. They also have a service/ operations manager, Loren Cassidy, who runs the shop. He has been in the industry 20-plus years. They have a service writer, John Nelson, and six RV technicians.

“I have a lot of confidence in this crew, it is a nice change to have a team that is so strong,” Montgomery concluded.