Service member returns home
<p>Alec McKinney works on a vehicle in his stepdad's auto shop. After serving in the Air Force for 20 years he had planned on coming home to take over operation of the repair shop in Superior.</p>
SUPERIOR – One local Superior resident, born and raised here, has returned after spending over 20 years away in the U.S. military to take over the reins of a local business that provides an essential service to the community.
After serving his country in the Air Force for 20 years, Alec McKinney has come back to Superior to serve a community he called home as a young man. McKinney will be taking over for his stepdad, George Mattfeldt, running the only automotive repair shop in Superior after the closing this year of the only other such facility in the area.
Mattfeldt has been operating the GLM automotive repair shop in Superior for the last seven years. He said he and his stepson have been talking for years about him coming home to take over the operation.
Mattfeldt said, while he encouraged McKinney to continue to reenlist in the military over the years, he was glad to have someone he trusted come back to take over his repair shop as he contemplates partial retirement.
And while he said he would have to train McKinney on some things in the industry, his stepson comes to the business with a wealth of applicable knowledge.
“I was a long range surveillance radar technician,” McKinney said. “I left here in 1993 to join the Air Force. I decided I wanted to come back and start working. This has been in the works for a long time. George said he was getting ready to retire and I needed to come home and run the business so he could.”
Mattfeldt said many of the skills his stepson learned in the military are directly translatable to the automotive industry. He said because automobiles these days are run by computer and are generally technologically sophisticated, he needed someone who knows how to work on advanced machinery.
“With his electronics background, he is really going to shine for us is in the mechanics,” Mattfeldt said. “There will be a lot of things to learn but now, instead of working on million dollar radar he’s going to work on $40,000 automobiles. Wiring is wiring. As long as you know how to read a schematic, the concepts are very similar.”
McKinney said his stepdad was right in that the work he did in the military and the work he will do in Superior are closely related. He said the easy part is taking what he knows about the inner workings of modern radar and applying it to vehicles that have similar components.
“It’s very similar to what I was doing,” McKinney said. “Once you figure out how everything works, it’s all very familiar.”
Mattfeldt said he was grateful to have McKinney finally back in Mineral County. He said, while he will keep up a presence at the shop, he was looking forward to some activities he has neglected over the years because of his business.
“I have a really nice boat I haven’t been on in two years,” Mattfeldt said. “I love to go fishing. The only thing is, he’s (McKinney) my fishing partner. I don’t think I could ever completely quit but I’m really glad he’s here. I think it’s great.”
McKinney said he also was happy to be back in his hometown. With his family not far behind in relocating to Mineral County, he said he was looking forward to starting a new chapter in his life.
“I’ve been wanting to get back here for years,” McKinney said. “Things are starting to come together. It was just a matter of timing and it feels great to finally be back.”