Meet the Muskegon Brake & Tire Crew
We keep top notch people. All of our technicians are State of Michigan certified and most have achieved ASE certification and have many years of experience. Unlike other auto service facilities, we encourage you to talk to the person servicing your car. (Everyone likes to talk to the doctor). If you have a favorite technician, feel free to request that he work on your car. You are welcome in our service bays, just ask and we will take you out in the shop to visually see what we are talking about and talk with the technician about your vehicle. Your car doesn’t disappear behind a wall to be serviced by an unknown person; each person in the organization is part of the customer service team of Muskegon Brake and Tire.
More About Each of Us:
Bob Cutler, Owner of Muskegon Brake & Tire along with Jeanne. Graduated from Northern Michigan University with a degree in Biochemistry spent 13 years in health care before purchasing the Broadway and Getty location in 1998, purchased the Whitehall location in 2005. Bob handles marketing, human resources, finance and assists as a service advisor at al three facilities. With limited knowledge about the automotive aftermarket he earned his Advanced Automotive Professional Degree from Northwood University, his AMM and ASE designation. Bob has been an active volunteer in the community as a past board member and chair of the Muskegon Area Chamber, current board member and president of the West Michigan Employers Association and current board member for Waypoint Academy. In the automotive community he served on the marketing committee for TruStar the national buying group and board member for AUTO. When not working 60-80 hour weeks, Bob enjoys skiing and boating with family and occasionally racing his current rally car and road racing.
Jeanne Cutler, Owner of Muskegon Brake & Tire along with Bob. After being a full time mother and parent Jeanne came to work at the company temporarily for year and half in customer service and back office financials. That was over three years ago, and she is now a vital member of the service team at Muskegon Brake & Tire. When not working she loves to spend time with her grandchildren, skiing and boating with family.
Larry Fox, Service Manager for Spring, Heavy Duty and Motorhome service facility located on Getty. Larry started his career while in high school. After graduation from Muskegon High School came to work for the founder of Muskegon Brake. Larry worked as a brake technician for the first nineteen years on every type of vehicle in addition to handling snowplow installations and corvette restoration. He then took his mechanical knowledge and came into the “office” to handle the duties of service advisor, educating the customers on the needs of their personal and fleet vehicles. Larry is now the service manager of the company’s heavy duty facility. He has both his ASE and AMM designation for Service Advising and is a graduate of Dale Carnegie and an ASE certified technician. Larry enjoys time with his grandchildren, long trips on his road bike or in his MG.
In addition to being ASE certified for Service Consulting and Truck Brake and Front End repairs, Larry is Michigan State Certified in Heavy Duty Truck and standard Automotive Brakes and Suspension.
Specialties: Socializing at coffee shops to meet new customers and retain old customer relationships, old school networking style.
Larry’s favorite on-the-job task is talking with customers.
Rita Sikkinga, handles the accounting for both locations and also customer service. Rita joined us when Phyllis retired going on six years ago. Her experience in accounting spans over 20 years, which has been bolstered by her continuing higher education. Rita also handles most of the day to day human resource responsibilities along with her other financial responsibilities. When not working she shares a passion for hockey along with her husband Bob and is an avid scrap booker.
Rita’s favorite on-the-job task is meeting new people and helping to improve customers’ experience, whether it be by setting appointments or helping customers check out more quickly.
Rick Rogers, Service Manager for the Whitehall Road tire and service facility. He has twenty-eight years in the industry as a technician and service advisor and joined Muskegon Brake in 1999. Rick has extensive experience in the art of spring work, heavy duty suspension, vehicle alignment and exhaust. He is an ASE certified technician and an ASE certified service advisor and is a graduate of Dale Carnegie. Rick enjoys time with his grandchildren and sports.
In addition to being ASE Certified in passenger car brake and chassis and heavy duty brake, steering an suspension, Rick has pursued further training through ATI and Sam Waterhouse.
Rick’s favorite on-the-job-task is treating customers as extended family by putting them at ease – and even having a little fun from time to time.
Chris Frost, Service Manager Broadway facility, started at a Tuffy Muffler shop and came to Muskegon Bake over 20 years ago as a technician. Chris grew to be an excellent technician, eventually specializing in Corvette restoration and snow plow installation, service and repair. Chris started “covering” for Larry as a service advisor, becoming a full time service advisor in 2004; when we purchased Muskegon Tire in 2005, he became the service manager to begin the process of instilling the culture of Muskegon Brake at our newest location. Chris came back to our Broadway location in 2007 to take over as Service Manager at Broadway. Chris enjoys the outdoors, deer hunting and fishing with his best friend.
Kurt Boerman, Service advisor at the Broadway facility. Kurt has 30 years’ experience in the tire and automotive service business, 13 years at Matson’s and Dayton Tire, fifteen years at Chet tires. He joined the company in 2004 to start the retail tire division and uses his extensive knowledge to assist our customers in the maintenance of their personal and fleet vehicles. When Kurt is not working, he and his wife Laurie spend time in Cancun enjoying the tropical sun.
Steve Metsker, Service Advisor at Broadway facility, was referred to us by one of our technicians and joined Brake & Tire in 2008 as a European & domestic technician. He has since joined the advisor team and brings with him a wealth of automotive knowledge to help educate our customers on their vehicle maintenance and repairs. Steve lives in Grand Rapids; he and Kelly have two weimaraners and a new house that keeps them busy.
In addition to being ASE Certified in heating, A/C, brakes, engine performance, steering and suspension, Steve has 8 years’ experience in the industry.
Steve’s favorite on-the-job-task is helping make potentially stressful repair situations more understandable and enjoyable.
Andrew Cutler, Manager of Corvette Catalog Business. As a family member, Andrew worked for the business during college, and upon graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in business, he married is high school sweetheart and moved to Ohio where he used his business degree in the restaurant industry. In 2006, his in-laws moved to Spring Lake, and Andrew and his family moved to Roosevelt Park. Andrew and Samantha have three wonderful children, Drew, CiCi and Maggi. His time away from the office is filled with family time and some occasional Frisbee golf and skiing.
Andrew specializes in catalog design, social media marketing and antique car part sales.
Andrew doesn’t have one single favorite on-the-job-task; rather, he enjoys the endless variety of moving from IT support to customer service to design and marketing.
Justin Cutler, Manager of Community Involvement, Outside Sales and Service Advisor at our Whitehall Road facility. Like his older brother, Justin has worked in the family business through school, receiving his business degree from Northwood University in the automotive aftermarket. He has always worked in the “family business”. Justin and Stephanie have one son and enjoy camping and skiing as a family.
Justin specializes in customer relations and shop management as well as tire, snow plow and corvette sales.
Justin’s favorite on-the-job-task is working to educate customers about their vehicles’ needs and learning more about the ever expanding automotive industry.
Tim Link, ASE Certified Undercar Specialist and Bosch Master Technician at the Broadway facility, Tim joined the company in 1999 and took over our Corvette restoration work when Chris became service advisor. Tim has just completed Bosch’s training to become one of a select few technicians who are recognized as a Bosch Master Technician. His skill sets are exceptional, Tim and is one of our top technicians in the shop. Tim is also the technician responsible for mentoring new technicians when they start their career with Muskegon Brake & Tire. Tim and Jenny enjoy trail riding on their dirt bikes outside of work.
Jon Cox, ASE Master Technician and L1, Jon joined the company in 2010 with extensive training and experience at Joe’s Friendly Service. Jon has a passion for advanced training and applying that training to solve challenging diagnostic problems. After hours, Jon is head of tech for Winston Speedway; he has also been a stock car driver himself.
Adam Twining, ASE Certified Technician and Snowplow Technician, joined the company in 2000 before he was eighteen and has learned the business on the shop floor, from working as a spring technician to learning installation and service of snowplows, domestic and import service and maintenance through many years of hands on training, classroom training and work experience. Adam enjoys hunting and fishing with his children when outside the shop.
Jacob Wierengo, ASE Certified Technician. Jacob joined the company in 2010 after working at his first shop; he came with great basic skills and has been in our mentoring program since joining the company. Jacob is and great technician, and having senior technicians to guide him and oversee his decision making is providing a broad foundation for his growth to an excellent technician. Jacob lives with his wife in Nunica, and holds a passion for cars after work as well as during.
Dave Wynia, ASE Certified Heavy Duty Technician. Dave came on board in 2010 after eight years of owning Dave’s Truck and Trailer Repair. He has brought with him vast and broad base of diesel knowledge and experience having worked at Cummins and Caterpillar dealerships before going into the independent truck and trailer service business.
John Walburn, ASE Certified Heavy Duty Technician. John joined the company in 2007 with no formal training; he came to Muskegon Brake and Tire with a desire to work and a desire to learn. He first learned the how to work in the spring pits and then has learned the art of spring repair and construction. During his tenure he has traveled to numerous classes on heavy duty suspension and heavy duty braking systems. When not at work he enjoys RC Cars and “anything with a motor”.
Chad Hainer, ASE Certified Technician, joined the company at our Whitehall Road store in 2009 and has been an excellent addition; he will earn his Bosch Master Technician designation April of 2011 and be one of just a handful of technicians along the lakeshore to have achieved that designation. He has a passion for education and expanding his technical skills in complicated diagnostics, something he has been able to continue after being initially exposed to these tasks when he worked for Jon Cox at Joe’s Friendly Service. Chad is involved with his son in boy scouts and enjoys running and fishing when not spending time with his wife, son and daughter.
Steve Humphrey, ASE Certified Technician. Steve is our newest technician, having joined the company in 2011. Before joining the team a the Whitehall Road store he worked for both local Chrysler dealerships in parts and then as a technician. He has extensive factory training in both technical and theory of automotive systems – training which he is able to put to use diagnosing vehicles all makes and models. When away from work, he carries his passion for cars home by working on fun automotive projects.
Summary
At Muskegon Brake & Tire, we are a group of people who have worked together for many years. As you can see, we all have great interest in cars and trucks, and we enjoy sharing new learning and information with one another daily. Like the doctors at Mayo Clinic, we often put our heads together to solve whatever tough car or truck problems come our way. Customers can feel more at ease by seeing the same faces at every visit. We know your car or truck. You can have confidence in our competency as auto service providers, and we are grateful that you consider us for all of your automotive service and maintenance needs.
