Making a Niche For Himself: Maas Radiator has turned heavy-duty repair work into the mother of all jobs

摘要

When Mark Hicks, a guard for the Illinois Department of Corrections at the state prison in Pontiac, used one of his vacation days to take a radiator into Maas Radiator for repair, he didn't know that it was going to change the rest of his life. It was January 1982, and Hicks watched Maas Radiator owner, Vern Maas, running around answering phones, working the bench and handling walk-in customers. He told the man it looked like he could use some help, so Maas offered Hicks, who had no radiator repair experience, a job on the spot. In December of that same year, Hicks found himself the owner of that same shop. He bought it from his boss for USD1 after Maas suffered a heart attack and was told by doctors that he shouldn't work anymore.