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Have a Passion For What You Do ...

Hot-rodder's youthful dreams spawn big success in auto-body business.

Close your eyes and visualize a thirteen-year-old boy paging through Hot Rod magazine in a hot Nebraska summer 30-odd years ago. As he flips the pages, he dreams of driving his own lustrous, high-powered road rocket. 

Fast forward now and picture the same boy many years later. He has a whole history of restoring classic and special interest cars under his belt, and now he’s president of a healthy and growing business incorporating four auto body shops and employing 42 people,.

You’ve got a picture of Doug Keller, president and founder of Eustis Auto Body, with locations in Eustis, Lexington, Grand Island and Kearney.

“I remember reading Hot Rod and wishing I could build a car like the ones I saw in the magazine,” Keller says.

Like recalling old friends, Keller remembers the cars and trucks that he drove, repaired and restored in his school age years. At fourteen he shared an ownership interest in a 1966 Mustang with his older brother; at sixteen he owned and customized a 1955 Chevrolet. Then it was a 1953 Ford pick-up and a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner among many other vehicles.

'I Knew I Could Do It Better'

Keller’s career took shape after he graduated from Eustis High School and enrolled in the auto body program at Southeast Community College in Milford. Keller graduated with an associate’s degree in auto body technology in December of 1977, and soon found a job with Hodges Chevrolet in Lexington.

But after about a year, Keller’s entrepreneurial spirit kicked in. He decided to start up his own auto body business.

“I knew I could do it better,” Keller said.

Keller’s grandfather, Clarence Keller, shared and supported Doug’s dream, and when an empty building in Eustis was available, his grandfather offered to help him purchase the building and get started.

“My grandfather has been a big influence in my life,” Doug Keller said, “He and his buddies helped clean and fix up the building – including a new roof – so I could get started.” Keller said he remembers working inside the building repairing cars, while his grandfather and his friends worked outside, repairing the building.

Plans For Expansion

Keller tells young entrepreneurs that goals for a business have to be consistent with the number of people in the area. 

“A sparse population may challenge businesses starting up in the South Platte region,”he says.“ Your business may need to spread out to tap into the population centers since they are far apart.”

Following his own advice, Eustis Auto Body expanded into Lexington in 1988 when the manager of Platte Valley Auto Mart, a Ford dealership, decided to disengage from the auto body business.

“We came in and managed it,” Keller said. “We bought some new equipment, and we installed our sign, Eustis Body Shop, right on their building.” David Berke currently manages the Lexington location in a building Eustis Auto Body constructed in 1994.

In 1991, Keller read an ad in the Omaha World Herald advertising Green’s Body Shop in Grand Island for sale. 

“When I was going to school in Milford, sixth-quarter students visited Green’s Body Shop,” said Keller. “I was aware that it was probably one of the bigger shops in Grand Island, and it caught my attention.” Keller negotiated a deal to purchase the shop.

“They had two locations at that time, one on West Old Highway 30 and another on Walnut Street,” said Keller. “We operated both locations for about a year and a half and then decided to move everybody out to the larger shop on West Old Highway 30.”Shaun Clinger manages the Grand Island business today.

In 1997 Keller purchased land and built a shop in Kearney, the largest of his four locations. Glen Brown manages Eustis Body Shop in Kearney.

Education Supports Ambition

“The same year that I bought this building in Eustis, I started taking classes in Kearney, says Keller. “I took accounting because I had a real need to know. I wasn’t making any money and I wanted to know why.”

Keller took advantage of the University of Nebraska’s distance-learning system by enrolling in business courses. “I wanted to know what it takes to make money in business.”Keller said. Skills such as break-even analysis and estimating margins were among those that helped his business grow and prosper.

Keller earned his bachelor’s degree in business in 1982, discovering, “I really enjoyed learning about business.” He entered an MBA program at the University of Nebraska at Kearney that was taught entirely off-campus and earned his MBA in 1988.

Entrepreneurs Need a Strong Will To Succeed

“Entrepreneurs always experience down times at first,”Keller says. “We all feel frightened and want to give up, but never give up. People want you to be a success here in the South Platte region, and you will find the support you need here to succeed,”Keller says.

Keller advises entrepreneurs to talk to other people in your business and attend meetings and conventions. “Get away from your shop, because entrepreneurs can become so busy with whatever they are doing that they neglect to learn ways to do it better.”

He also tells them it’s important to feel a passion for your work.

“People drive 40 or 50 miles to do business with Eustis Auto Body because of our reputation for quality,” Keller says. “After more than twenty-five years in the auto body business, cars and restoring cars still interest me as a hobby. I’m using parts of the ‘53 Ford pickup I restored in high school to rebuild a 1955 Ford Pick-up. I’m a few years away from finishing that project, but I still have a passion for it.”

Who To Contact...

Eustis Auto Body
Doug Keller
110 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Eustis, NE 69028
308-486-5515
eustisbodyshop@nebnet.net

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