![]() “It’s a big thing to give them an opportunity to grow without micromanaging them. Warren, who took over Weld County Garage in 2000, gives every employee - from parts staff to sales people - the discretion to fix up to a $500 mistake without approval. Not only do the Yoders strive to put employees in roles that match their skills and interests, they also allow employees to make decisions. ![]() “We’ve latched onto people who think that way. “If you’re arguing over a $10 taillight lens and over a lifetime that customer is worth $350,000, to trade $10 just to win a battle is so stupid,” Lee said. While Lee doesn’t have an MBA, his office is overrun with business books and his focus on ethical business practices has allowed him to attract lifelong employees, many of whom have worked for the Yoders for more than 30 years. ![]() “I’m not smart about business and I haven’t had a lot of training in the philosophy of business, but I lose sleep if I’ve lost a customer,” Lee said. Fifteen years later, Weld County Garage was up to 150 employees and $77 million in annual sales. At the time, Weld County Garage had 36 employees and $6 million in sales. He moved to a Greeley dealership that better reflected his values and in 1982, he bought Weld County Garage. He learned to sell cars from a neighbor, but was bothered by how some salesmen treated customers. “It was so traumatic, so I changed my career,” Lee said. At 27, his mother died and, at 30, his father passed away. With an eighth-grade education typical of Amish families, Lee Yoder left the family farm in Kansas when he was 18 for Denver, where he eventually bought a service station. Today, Weld County Garage and its sister business Herbies employ more than 170 people and claim more than $93 million in annual sales.įounded in 1908, Greeley’s Weld County Garage is most closely associated with the father-son team of Lee and Warren Yoder, who took it over in the spring of 1982. ![]() In the 1980s, well after cars surpassed horse-drawn carriages, it added appliances to its core business. In the early 1900s, Weld County Garage was the place to go for buggy repair. ![]()
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