Economic development professionals are always talking about attracting high technology businesses to their regions, thinking that these are the economic generators, capable of maintaining a strong community. That may be true to some extent, but the bigger truth is that basic American businesses are the engines that drive our economy; small businesses, like the printer, the machine shop, and the all important auto repair shop.

          It is said that the average Long Island family has 3 cars (more than the average 2.5 children!). Add to that the fleets of the municipalities, rental companies, delivery services, and others, and you have millions of vehicles traveling our LI roads. No wonder there’s so much traffic!

          Those vehicles don’t stay on the roads without regular maintenance and repair. Enter the auto repair shops of our region, providing services ranging from the mundane oil change to the body work made necessary by all those bumps and starts.

          The Body Shoppe of Smithtown, Inc. has been performing high quality vehicle repairs for over 25 years on Long Island. Catering to owners of automobiles, SUV’s, RV’s and motorcycles, the Shoppe is a certified repair shop by various major dealers including GM. They provide state of the art computer estimating accepted by all major insurance carriers and utilize state of the art, environmentally friendly recycling measures.

          The company was founded by Ronald Stretvelt who has been in the auto body repair business since leaving the Navy. In addition to surviving in a competitive business for all these years, Ronald is one of the factors also making this business unique.  He’s an example of what hard work and entrepreneurial commitment can do for a business. Despite his being confined to a wheelchair, Ron has now more than doubled the size of his business space with the recent move to his new facility at 2451 Pond Road in Ronkonkoma. The 4200 square foot building will allow the business to expand as well as continue serving its existing client base. Located right near the railroad, the new facility makes it very convenient for customers to leave their vehicles for repair and maintenance and hop onto public transportation.

          The new facility was financed with a loan from Unity Bank and a second mortgage from Long Island Development Corporation, written by Ken Kowalczyk. The combined financing provided 90% long term financing of the total project cost, permitting the business to retain working capital for expansion. With a 25 year-plus track record of success, The Body Shoppe of Smithtown now can look forward to another 25 years of serving the auto-related needs of the community and continuing to be one of the basic American small businesses driving the engine of our economy!