Elite has announced that John Rush has joined the company as its newest business development coach.

In his new role, Rush will utilize his 27 years of experience as a successful shop owner to provide one-on-one business building guidance to current shop owners throughout the U.S.

Before retiring in 2012, Rush ran two of the most successful shops in the country –­ one with 14 bays, the other with 10, and both with 10-plus employees. He was a AAA Shop of the Year winner, and the Regional NAPA Tech of the Year winner for two years in a row. When running his shops, Rush was very active in the industry, as he was a board member for the ASA of Colorado, and served on the NAPA Auto Care Advisory Council, the Rancho/Tenneco National Advisory Council and on local technical college boards.

The company says a major reason for Rush’s success was his thirst for knowledge and personal improvement, as he constantly attended management courses throughout his career, and was able to become an ASE LI and Master Tech, an ASE Service Advisor and obtained an AMI AAM degree to become an AAM Automotive Manager. Rush also ran a PACE shop (Partners for a Cleaner Environment), held numerous car care fairs, held women’s clinics to teach maintenance and provided oil change weekends for single moms, so his shops were truly fixtures in the community that gave back at every opportunity.

Today, Rush hosts a car talk show, so it’s safe to say that his love for our industry and desire to give back hasn’t faded since he retired. He thrives on helping others and small businesses, and is an expert in shop operations, shop KPI’s, shop marketing and managing people.

“Not only does John have the experience, knowledge and track record of success that we look for in a coach, but his primary philosophy as a shop owner was ‘Honesty and integrity in everything we do,’ so we couldn’t be more proud to call him a member of the Elite family,” said Bob Cooper, president of Elite.