Instead, Grandgenett was let go.

“They called me upstairs and I thought I was getting a promotion, but I was let go,” said Grandgenett, who was the material requirements manager.

Grandgenett, a 23-year employee of the Algona-based company, became a casualty of the pandemic. The matting business was affected because fewer people were working in person.

“When everyone started working from home, the matting at these big companies isn’t getting worn out and they don’t need you,” Grandgenett said.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Curt Bacon Body Shop, located at 1710 Fifth Ave. S., has been in business for 42 years.

Fast forward about a year later and Grandgenett is now president of Curt Bacon Body Shop, 1710 Fifth Ave. S.

That became a reality because he started helping Rich Illg, owner of Dent Master, from July through November of 2020. It was right after a hail storm hit the Fort Dodge area. The hail left countless vehicles damaged.

“I never collected unemployment,” said Grandgenett, an Emmetsburg High School graduate. “I just went right back to work.”

Meanwhile, Curt Bacon had communicated to Illg a few years ago that he was looking to sell his body shop business.

“I told him a few years ago that I’m looking at my exit plan and looking to sell my shop,” Bacon said. “So I really was trying to find someone to buy it that I knew would preserve what I worked toward for 42 years to build and not have some big corporation buy and consolidate it. If I couldn’t have the next owner take care of my people (employees), I just couldn’t sell it.”

And at the end of the 2020 hail season, Bacon said he was ready to move forward with those plans. Illg, a silent partner, and Grandgenett, manager, were ready as well.

“They looked at our profitability,” Bacon said. “It’s a no brainer — the place has good margins.”

One of the first things Grandgenett noticed about Curt Bacon Body Shop was how employees interacted.

“First thing I noticed the first day I was here doing hail was this is just a large family,” Grandgenett said. “Everybody is getting along, looking out for each other. Every car that comes in, they treat it like it’s their mom’s. They want to take care of them. It’s a family-run business.”

And oddly enough, Illg and Grandgenett are distantly related to Bacon.

“Rich’s wife (Julie) is a distant relation on my dad’s family side,” Bacon said. “So we are actually distantly related. And Jeff is actually related to Rich, so they are distantly related as well.”

Grandgenett’s wife, Kimberly, is assistant vice president at Citizens Community Credit Union.

Part of the purchase agreement is that Bacon will be retained as a consultant for two years.

“My dad (George “Ed” Bacon) taught us (Bacon and his brothers) how to work hard, so to go out golfing every day will never be in my DNA,” Bacon said. “I’ve got to be doing something all the time. We are going on 42 years in business. I, finally after 38 or 39 years, said enough is enough after working seven days a week all the time. After that long, I wanted to move to Monday through Friday.

“So I am here to help teach the new guy. My business model and how I do things. They want to make sure they learn it all. My philosophy has always been you’re never to the end of being the best you can be in any business. You should always be looking for efficiencies and climbing the ladder toward the sky the whole time. I am never content with what I can do or do better. I just have that mindset. What can we do better for a better customer experience. We haven’t always made every customer happy but the majority we have by leaps and bounds.”

BACON OFFICIALLY FOUNDED THE BUSINESS IN 1979.

“I had done it three or four years before that, building clientel and proving myself until I could turn it into a legitimate business,” Bacon said.

Prior to working on cars, Bacon worked at Iowa Beef on the kill floor in the 1970s.

“When you work that job, you appreciate any job,” Bacon said.

He also worked at the local limestone plant.

“I was a dynamiter down there for a couple of years,” Bacon said. “That wasn’t for me. In the winter time, it’s dark when you go in and dark when you come out. It’s dark all year round until you have your days off.”

Bacon said his father taught him good work ethic by having him do chores.

“He took us (brothers) to town two nights a week to the barbershop to sweep the floors and wax the shop,” Bacon said. “My dad worked at Hormel all his life. That was his career. He became friends with a Honda shop owner here in town in late 60s, early 70s, and my brothers and I would go in and set up new motorcycles in the shop when they would come in from Japan.”

Bacon said he wonders where the work ethic has gone in the U.S.

“In today’s world it seems there’s a lack of people needing to work for a living and not have their hand out,” he said. “Where the work ethic in the U.S. has gone to. It’s sad.”

BACON HAS HAD A LOVE OF CARS SINCE HE WAS A CHILD.

“When I was a kid I always liked cars, so I always had an enjoyment on working on cars,” he said. “I am pretty much self-taught in this industry. I’ve had some classes and schooling. I went to management school in Santa Barbara, California.”

The 1968-72 Chevy pickups are among Bacon’s favorites.

“Chevy pickups were the first things I’ve built and really liked those,” Bacon said. “I am buying all the parts to build another one. A ’37 Ford Street Rod was another favorite.. That one (one he built) was on a major magazine.”

Curt Bacon Body Shop has been in several different locations through the years until settling in its current spot along the city’s Corridor of Commerce.

“Every place we moved to, we kept growing out of it,” Bacon said. “Until the fifth or sixth move, we moved here. Then we bought a house next door and tore that down. And now we are growing out of this. We added a second shop for overflow because we have so much going on. We are looking for more techs and painters so we will be employing more people.”

Curt Bacon currently employs 12 people.

The body shop specializes in auto collision, repair and refinishing.

On the average, 480 to 550 cars are repaired at the shop in a normal year without hail. As many as 700 are repaired during a year with hail damages. 30 to 40 cars a month. Its crazy the amount of cars you go through.

“We scan every car that comes in,” Bacon said. “It’s like an IT guy doing a computer check on your computer. Today’s world with sensors, there’s more computers in cars than people even know about.”

The shop sees a wide variety of damages. A van that was damaged during the Lake City tornado on July 14 is going to be repaired at the body shop.

“It left the ground three times during the tornado,” said Grandgenett. “And she was in it. The entire thing needs repainted and the windows need replaced. She parked on the side of the road and when it was over she was parked in the middle.”

One challenge is keeping up with having the latest equipment.

“Buying equipment never ends,” Bacon said. “This business is very rewarding but it’s high liability. You have to know what you’re doing, you could lose it all one shot.”

Business in 2020 was booming, according to Bacon. It has come back down to normal in 2021.

“Business was better in 2020,” he said. “But that’s seven days a week. It was a big year but it was hard on us. Ashley (Lundberg, accounts payable, estimator) was here 7 days a week from July until November except for two days. My wife (Cindy Bacon) did all of the accounting. She was seven days a week too. She suffered through it.”

The pandemic caused delays in getting vehicles fixed.

“Biggest thing in COVID, parts we could get overnight or two days could be two weeks or two months,” Bacon said. “So there’s all kinds of trickle down. It’s slowly, slowly getting better but it’s tough. We usually have one or two sources now we are looking at six. Forty-two years and I’ve never had a situation like this.”

Being able to make someone’s day a little better is a highlight of the job, according to Grandgenett.

“If someone is coming through our door it’s not because something great just happened in their life,” he said. “It’s good to be able to turn a bad situation into something better.”