When Ryan Turner starts a business, it’s not uncommon for it to spawn another.

Turner, 47, and business partner Terry Auckerman, 42, are co-owners of SMAC, which stands for Spokane Mobile Automobile Care Inc.

The idea to start SMAC was born from the fact Turner has owned and operated Spokane-based Green Spray & Lawn Maintenance LLC for approaching two decades now, and he had often contacted his long-time friend Auckerman to ask for mechanical assistance on a vehicle that had broken down while on duty for the landscape company. Auckerman is a mechanic certified through the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.

“He was getting tired of working for others, I was always calling him for help, so I said, ‘Hey, what do you think of this idea?’’’ Turner says.

The idea of a mobile mechanic has taken off.

“We’ve been quite surprised by how much business is out there,” says Turner, especially after he and Auckerman secured a pair of national accounts. Auckerman is the company’s lone mechanic while Turner is in charge of operations.

SMAC is open 24/7. Auckerman has provided roadside assistance to stranded motorists as far west of Spokane as Ephrata, as far south as Lewiston and as far north and east as Sandpoint. However, Turner says the majority of service calls are within a five- to 10-mile radius of downtown Spokane.

The duo has learned something else along the way.

“A lot of millennials don’t want to go to a mechanic shop,” he says. “Between 18 and 35, maybe up to 40, they’d rather have you come to their home or place of work to have their car serviced.”

Meanwhile, Turner’s next project is to launch STAR, Spokane Tire & Auto Repair, which is scheduled to open April 10 at 8615 E. Trent, in Spokane Valley. He and business partners Myke Davis and Paul Levy, who have a combined 60 years of working as auto mechanics, will open their own garage in 12,000 square feet of
space.

STAR isn’t a direct result of SMAC, but like SMAC, both Davis and Levy relish the idea of being self-employed.