02/21/2023
To all of my valued customers:
With a heavy heart, yet an odd sense of relief, I must inform you that effective February 21, 2023, Automotive Artifex will be closing its doors to any further new business. I will be focusing on completing the remaining work already at the shop over the coming days and weeks.
I embarked on this wild journey in June of 2017 and ran the business full time until the lease ran out in our old location in 2020. COVID-19 forced closures of small businesses everywhere and destroyed lives, including many of my customers. For us, added complications here locally of building material shortages thanks to deadly tornadoes led to construction delays and sky-rocketing costs. Those compounded the nightmare of our extended shut-down, relocation, and eventual re-opening in our current location in late 2020. During that time, I was hired as an instructor of Automotive Technology at TCAT Chattanooga. In that “temporary” position, I was reunited with a great love… Teaching others.
From this side, the business never really recovered. It has been a struggle to maintain the shop as a part-time endeavor on top of my primary duties as an educator. I have always regarded myself a competent mechanic/technician, but never truly embraced the “business” side. The part time hours made matters worse and it showed. My personal health and the business have suffered greatly.
Recently, an opportunity at the college presented itself, but with a catch. Since last summer I have been assisting colleagues from the College of Engineering to develop curriculum centered on electric vehicles. This would be the basis for a potential Associate’s degree focused on Electric Vehicle Technology as a joint venture between Chattanooga State Community College and the Volkswagen Academy. The more I became involved in the process, the more my expertise and love of the brand caught the attention of my co-workers and the administration. After much consideration, I applied for the new position of “Electric Vehicle Instructor” at the VW Academy. In the end, I was selected as the preferred candidate and offered the position, but with one condition… Due to the growing trend of people electrifying classic vehicles, the business represented a direct conflict of interest according to Volkswagen. In short, if I wished to pursue the opportunity, it would require me closing down the shop.
With the prospect of a truly unique position, its accompanying salary increase, and the resulting time off that would allow me to return to a normal life, I signed my new contract with the college this morning. My last day at the TCAT will be February 28th. Starting March 1st, I will begin months of extensive manufacturer training prior to taking on students for the all new EV classes in the fall.
I have already spoken with some owners, and will be reaching out to the rest in the coming days with my plan of how I will be completing their work as I move forward with the shut-down. This new change will actually allow me to finish up the remaining cars in a shorter time-frame. Meanwhile, due to my agreement with VW and the college, no new work can be taken on.
In closing, I would like to thank you all for your support over the years. It has meant a great deal to me. I started without a single customer on the books, and that grew to literally hundreds of names over the past 6 years. I wish you all the very best, and look forward to what the future holds.
Much Love and Warmest Regards,
Rick Swafford
a.k.a. The Automotive Artifex
