PAXINOS - Jeff Kurtz and his wife, Kathy, owners of Jeff's Auto Body & Recycling Inc., started out with an old pick-up truck, a cutting torch and a two-stall garage for body and mechanical work in 1981. More than 30 years later, the business has transformed into a sprawling 15-acre operation.
"We moved out here in 1978 in a trailer house in the woods and built out from there," said Jeff Kurtz. "I left my full-time job in 1981."
The couple, who will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in April, still live on site.
In the early days, the body shop was the main focus of the business; they did a little recycling on the side.
"In the mid-1980s, recycling became big business and we branched off into that," Jeff said.
Now, Jeff estimates they recycle about 500,000 pounds of aluminum cans a year and 100,000 tons of scrap metal.
They recycle everything under the sun except glass and old television sets. They recently put up a building where they accept and sort plastic and electronics.
They scrap and recycle cars, steel, cooper, brass, aluminum and old appliances. They also have a selection of used tires for sale. There is a you-pull-it yard where customers can pick parts for a $3 admission price plus the cost of parts.
The recycling yard is a hub of activity with several pieces of heavy equipment, including fork lifts and excavators, moving recyclable objects or dropping cars into the car crusher and trucks dropping off and picking up items.
Jeff's has 62 roll-off containers, carried by two trucks, two rollback trucks and a wrecker for the body shop.
The recycling center includes a sweat furnace, where dirty, unrecyclable aluminum is melted down into 1,400 pound ingots shipped all over the country and the world.
Their customers come from near and far; international customers are as close as Canada and as far away as China.
"We meet a lot of people from all over the world," Jeff said.
The body shop has grown over the decades from the humble two-stall garage to a large state-of-the-art facility which was built in 2006. It is an official state inspection site. The shop has a dedicated paint booth and uses a PPG Envirobase High Performance Waterborne paint system, which is "environmentally sound," Jeff said.
Kathy said the business can do something with just about anything that comes through the door.
"If we can't fix it, we can scrap it," she said.
Jeff and Kathy's two adult sons, Steve and Todd, went into the family business and started working for them "as soon as they could pick up aluminum cans," according to Jeff. Todd manages the body shop and Steve manages the recycling center along with his wife, Dawn. When Jeff and Kathy finally decide to retire, they know the business they built from scratch will be in good hands. The couple also has five grandchildren.
Jeff admits some may see his recycling center as an eyesore, but he stresses its environmental program is second to none and any water that makes its way into the ground is chemical free.
"We keep a green facility and believe that everyday should be Earth Day," He added.
In keeping with their attitude about the environment the Kurtz' own 75 acres of undeveloped land behind their operation they keep as a "little getaway" complete with feeders for deer, turkey and other wild animals. They offer by-appointment tours of the land and facility for special interest groups such as the Boy Scouts.
In reflecting on their long term success, Kathy said shares the family's motto: Treat people the way you want to be treated.
"It has worked for us," she said.
For his part, Jeff gives much credit to his 40-year marriage to Kathy and his employees.
"Behind every successful man is a good woman, and behind every successful business are good employees," he said.
Jeff's Auto Body & Recycling Inc., 5446 Snydertown Road, is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The body shop is closed Saturday and Sunday, but the recycling center is open from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday and closed Sunday. For more information, call 672-9690.