Steve Bowles and the staff of Auto Centre Dufferin County Inc. in Shelburne are celebrating being awarded "Garage of the Year" by Service Station & Garage Management (SS GM) magazine.

The SSGM Garage of the Year is a national award presented annually to the Canadian independent automotive service provider that best exemplifies the highest levels of customer service and operations practices.

The magazine's editor, Tom Venetis, says the service providers are nominated by customers and peers in the industry. "There are 22 different criteria that narrow down the nominees, as well as an unannounced visit by me or SSGM publisher Robert Telford. Companies must excel in customer care and service, community focus, and technical expertise."

The owner of Auto Centre Dufferin County Inc., Steve Bowles, was born in Corbetton in Melancthon Township. After high school, Steve went to work in Orangeville at Gord Davenport Automotive, where he spent 20 years in automotive wholesale parts. In May 1998, Steve felt it was time for him to do something on his own; he saw a need in Shelburne for an automotive service provider and made his move.

Steve says he enjoys having a business in Shelburne because "it still has that small town attitude. I know all my customers by their first name and all my employees are local. We have a very low turn-over of employees here; some have been here since we opened."

Auto Centre Dufferin County Inc. currently has 10 employees providing automotive service and repair including drive clean emission testing, rust check, diagnostic, and alignment service. There is an automotive sale lot of pre-owned vehicles on site, and Steve Bowles also operates the self-service car wash in Shelburne.

Mr. Venetis, who will present the award to Bowles and his employees this Thursday November 24th, says that Auto Centre Dufferin County excelled in many areas. "What stood out was their commitment to customer focus and the thought and care that went into the custom built service centre.

"Steve designed the centre to be customer and worker friendly. We were also impressed with the community involvement, and the investment in training for staff to continually improve technical expertise and customer service."

Steve says it is an honour to receive the award because "it is presented to the over all company, not just one person, and everyone here is instrumental to our success. All my staff have the same interest, which is the customer. Thank you to each one for their contribution, without their support we would not be nominated, let alone receiving the award.

Congratulations are due both Steve and his staff: Chris Ferris, Ken Copeland, Bill Ferguson, David Boggs, Patricia Hunt, Lesa Netzke, Faye Mitchell, Brendan Blokzyl, and Bryan Barik.

Auto Centre Dufferin County Inc. is located at 710 Industrial Rd. in Shelburne.