business & professional
College Financial Aid
Meetings Slated
JVS will host two parent information
meetings about the Jewish Educational
Loan Service (JELS) and additional
financial aid options for Jewish college
students.
The meetings will be held 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Hermelin
ORT Resource Center at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield
and 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, at JVS,
29699 Southfield Road in Southfield.
JELS Coordinator Marvin Berman will
discuss how to apply for an interest-free
student loan offered through the JELS
program. He will also address avail-
ability of financial assistance through
federal, state, institutional and private
sources.
The presentation is directed toward
parents, though students are welcome to
attend. To register for one of the meet-
ings or for information, contact Marvin
Berman, (248) 233-4209 or mberman@
jvsdet.org.
Driving
Success
Neighborhood
garage owner
builds business
one relationship
at a time.
Pamela A. Zinkosky
Special to the Jewish News
j
oe Stamell's namesake business
boasts 45 years of wrenching
and rotating tires, changing oil
and other auto services. Stamell, who
came to own Joe Stamell's Dynamic Car
Care in Farmington Hills "all by acci-
dent:' doesn't wrench, rotate or oil, but
his everyday presence is paramount to
the business's success.
Stamell relies on his four mechanics
to carry out the automotive work, but
he's behind the desk every day answer-
ing phones, greeting customers and
keeping the business afloat. "I never
leave the shop, and if I'm not here, we're
in trouble
That's because customers expect to
talk to Joe, says West Bloomfield resident
Tony Targan, who's been going to Stamell
for 20 years and says he can't think of too
many other business relationships that
have lasted that long. "You're buying Joe
he says. "You're buying that relationship.
"He's a real salt-of-the-earth guy. He
conveys a sense that you can trust him. I
feel like even if it's bad news, he gives it
to me straight:'
As one of the only full-service auto
shops in the area, Stamell sees his busi-
ness as a neighborhood garage. "We just
fix broken cars:' Stamell says in his typi-
cal down-to-earth manner. "I don't know
that I'm all that charming, but I do know
that we do good work:'
Stamell never intended to run an
auto shop. The Huntington Woods
resident grew up in Detroit, attended
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, went to
Mumford High School, obtained a college
degree in history and meant to teach.
But Stamell's business relationship-
building skills were already at work
managing Union Tire in Detroit for his
then-father-in-law, and taking a teaching
job would have meant a 50 percent pay
cut. "I was making double the amount:'
Stamell says. "I think he was paying me
$12,000 (annually), and I could make
$6,000 as a teacher:'
After a divorce, Stamell in 1967 struck
20 January 24 • 2013
JN
$1:
Joe Stamell outside his car repair business
out on his own, opening Dynamic Tires
on Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak. He
built the business on the knowledge he
garnered at Union Tire, his ability to
forge and maintain personal relation-
ships, and print advertising in the Detroit
Jewish News.
"I was a regular advertiser:' Stamell
says. In fact, Dynamic Tires appeared as a
Jewish News profile in 1967. "You had to
be in it. Most Jewish people would rather
do business with Jewish people, all other
things being the same. The Jewish popu-
lation has been very receptive to me:'
An eight-year stint living in Oklahoma,
managing his in-laws' Western cloth-
ing business, could have meant a career
change for Stamell, but when he and his
wife returned to Detroit in 1989, he fell
back on his auto experience.
"I didn't want to do this again because
it's retail and it's a lot of hours:' Stamell
says. "But, we had to eat. I had this real
estate thing going, and that came out
from under me:'
In 1989, Stamell bought an existing
auto business on Northwestern Highway
in Farmington Hills, renamed it Joe
Stamell's Dynamic Car Care — just in
case anyone remembered him from the
old days — and that's where he's been
ever since.
"Dynamic" is a good word for Stamell's
auto industry career. He's seen plenty of
changes — the disappearance of small
tire shops in favor of large companies like
Discount and Belle, changes in cars, the
introduction of the Internet, economic
changes — and he's adapted his business
at every turn.
These days, he says, diagnostics are
very important, especially because people
are holding on to their cars a little longer,
the economy being what it is. Stamell has
all the necessary tools to figure out which
parts are needed and the right staff to do
the job, he says. "The repair business is
very good. We're doing more elaborate,
extensive repairs than before:'
Stamell has also seen a shift in advertis-
ing mediums. While "the most important
thing is word of mouth:' he says, he's
finding that the younger customers he's
after are looking to the Internet more, so
he maintains a robust website that offers
online appointment scheduling. He's also
looking into Google advertising.
At 70-something, Stamell counts him-
self lucky to have his health and family
— two sons and a daughter — and has
no intention of retiring anytime soon.
"I'm gonna drop dead here he says.
"We can't think of not working:'
Stamell says of he and his wife, Adrienne,
who's a real estate agent riding out the
tide of the housing crisis.
What's more, Stamell enjoys the
camaraderie with his close-knit staff —
"they're like family:' he says — and with
his customers, who expect his personal
greeting when they walk in the door.
"It's gratifying because people come
because I am here Stamell says.
❑
JSL Plans Visit To
Florida Snowbirds
On Sunday, Feb. 10,
Metro Detroit snow-
birds, Floridians and
their guests will gather
at the Florida home
of Florine Mark, WW
Group president and
CEO, to connect with
Jewish Senior Life.
Florine Mark
The brunch event, set
for 11 a.m., will show-
case JSL's programs,
services and residences. For informa-
tion, contact Beth Tryon at (248) 661-
1836 or via btryon@jslmi.org .
JSL executives Rochelle Upfal
(CEO), Carol Rosenberg (director, JSL
Foundation) and Barbra Giles (associate
director) will provide information on
programs, services and residences. In
addition, they will feature the Village, a
community-based membership program
recently launched in Huntington Woods
that provides concierge, support and
camaraderie for people who wish to age
in their homes.
"Jewish Senior Life is always focused
on maintaining relationships and con-
nections with our friends in Florida
as many migrate south in the colder
months for a splash of sunshine says
Upfal.
Florine Mark will speak about well-
ness and how it impacts everyone's daily
life.
"Every day is a new day and we all
want to look and feel our best so we
need to eat right, exercise and keep a
positive attitude no matter what our age
is:' says Mark.