В Брандоне открылся круглосуточный сервис по ремонту техники с выездом на место

BRANDON — Andy Mandt just might be a genius. The owner-operator of the (fairly new) Mandt Truck and Trailer Repair in Brandon bought the old True Value hardware building in town at the end of July and there’s all kinds of good buzz about it. ADVERTISEMENT For one thing, his business model is unique for this kind of thing. “I started July 1 of 2024 as 24/7 roadside service,” he says. “I have a lot of experience working out of a service truck, and it was a need. “I feel like I'm a fairly ambitious person. So I talked my wife into letting me buy a service truck and start a business and see where it would take us. From there it went to guys calling for services, DOT inspections, tires, you know, all kinds of stuff on site. “It's really unique because a lot of guys are short-handed. They don't have time to run stuff to town. And when you do, stuff is there for a week to three weeks, depending on how busy that shop is and if you're waiting on parts. “The unique thing with me, that I think really appeals to a lot of people,” Mandt explains, “is when I show up to work on your piece of equipment or your truck or your trailer, my intention is to have it done that day. And if it's not done that day, I tell you what we're waiting on, get parts, and then we go from there. It takes a lot of the waiting and a lot of the downtime out of it.” There’s a joke among mechanics that the shop rates go up if you watch, and go up again if you try to help or offer advice. But Mandt says that hasn’t been a problem so far, at least not with his local customers. “Our rates are the rates,” he laughs. “There are very few customers that I would say hang over your shoulder. They'll visit with you when you're working. But a lot of them understand that, a guy comes out to work on something and you want it done, you visit and all that, but then you kind of let them be. When I go over the road for emergency roadside calls, those guys that don't know who I am, that aren't locals, those are the guys that hang over your shoulder. I just let them know that I have a shadow and I don't need another one, and I will take care of them, and I try and be as polite as I possibly can.” ADVERTISEMENT We first met Andy Mandt earlier this month at the steam threshing demonstration during Brandon’s SummerFest. It was apparent then just how much he respects and admires things with a little bit of age and of history. And that holds true whether you’re talking about a 1912 steam engine, a building or people. “A lot of the older generation, it's almost like they're relieved that they can just have you show up and take care of it, instead of having to catch a ride with their wife or have one of their kids come and pick them up. It's a service that they appreciate, which is awesome. For me, you don't always get to tell them good news when things are broken and things get expensive, but to come to them and just let them know that you'll take care of it and keep them in the loop – there's just a lot of relief when it comes to that ‘one less thing.’ Mandt and his wife, a surgical tech at Vance Thompson Vision in Alexandria, are raising three daughters, ages 5, 7 and 12. And he doesn’t hesitate in crediting Brandi with a large part of his success. “I'm definitely the person that would jump into it," he says. "And she'll sit down and ask, ‘What's the plan? How are we going to take care of this, and this, and this?’ It wasn't really hard to convince her because she knows what I'm able to do, and she does believe in me, and she has been very supportive through the whole thing. “She believes in it. Especially with this building now, having some square footage to dream about what could be in here, we've had some pretty cool conversations. It's been very, very fun. I definitely would not have ventured out and done this on my own if she didn't think that I could, or if she didn't support me.” Mandt's admiration for things of the past, things with history, comes through when he talks from — and about — his new office space at 102 Central Ave S in Brandon. He originally called hoping to rent it, and was asked if he wanted to buy it instead. “I thought, ‘Yeah, let's see where that goes.’ And, you know, it has worked out really well. ADVERTISEMENT “From what we were told when we purchased it, it is right around 100 years old. It has been the Gardonville Telephone Company’s building, and they ran out of it for years. It housed Wagner Trucking years ago; they ran their office and dispatch and trucks based out of this building. It's been Hilltop Lumber. It was Auto Value that the Millerville Creamery had for a few years.” The move to the old hardware store meant moving everything out of a three stall garage and two storage units. Now, Mandt says, “I have an office, I have all my parts, tires; all my inventory in one space. And it's been very, very nice to have my own workspace and not have anything crowded at home. My wife actually likes that all this stuff is out of the garage, too.” Mandt says Schaefer Powersports has rented space in the back of the building for about three years, “and based on what I do, there is no reason to ask him to leave. We want him to continue working out the back.” But Mandt thinks a lot about the history of the building and its place in the community. “It's neat to think about when this building was put up and what everyone in town thought,” he says. “I'm sure there was a lot of excitement around it. And then every time it changed hands: the opportunities as far as jobs and what's going to come to Brandon, being something new every time it switched. “The one building that we have, a cold storage building just off to the side, I was told was the old post office depot when the railroad came through here. And that building is actually a lot neater and [more] impressive to me as far as what it used to do for the community, more than the building that I'm sitting in right now.” And Mandt, a guy with no shortage of ideas, is already blue-skying things they might do. ADVERTISEMENT “Oh, I've been all over the board with possibilities of what we can do with the space,” he laughs, “especially the old post office building. Brandon has a historical committee that meets, and it has been on my mind to do some research and see if there's pictures of that building in use and things like that. “It’s in pretty good shape for an old building, but I think that's one that definitely needs to be taken care of and maintained. To have a cool space like that – I thought of so many things that sometimes sound far-fetched, but I do have ideas on. Some neat stuff to do with that space eventually, if it works out.” Not surprisingly, Mandt’s three daughters have some ideas, too. “Yeah, there's a lot of talk of coffee shops and having a store front,” he grins. If the 36-year-old Mandt, originally from Wahpeton, North Dakota, doesn’t hesitate to attribute much of his success to his wife, there’s plenty left over for his adopted home town, too. “Everybody says I'm a transplant here,” he says. “My wife is from Evansville, originally; after we had met and moved here, I'm very happy to be in Brandon. It's been a great community to move into. I am pretty vested with everything: I have the fire department and [I’m] on the school board also, and the amount of support there is in this small town has really been what's made my business successful. “I always told my wife that I would overpay for something in Brandon before I would go anywhere else, because this is our home. Our kids go to school here. We live in Brandon, and it's just an awesome place to be. And if we're going to set up shop and try and grow a business and have something, I want it to be where we live. ADVERTISEMENT “It’s been phenomenal. Everything worked out so well this last year. It's exciting: starting to take down the old signage, put up new signage, have people stop by and wish you luck and tell you they're excited that somebody is in the building. All the support has been overwhelming and it really gets me excited for the future.” So all this sounds like a savvy businessman, a go-getter, a guy who thinks outside the box. But call Andy Mandt a genius? Why? Think about it. Andy Mandt pulls up into farmyards and at houses, sometimes steps away from kitchens where some of the best midwestern cooks in the world keep a pot of coffee on 24/7, and freshly-baked goodies sitting on the counter. Where being a Minnesotan means inviting any and all guests in for coffee and bars, at the very least. “I usually [don’t] come in because I'm usually fairly dirty,” he confesses, “but I get coffee. I've gotten banana bread and cookies and it's really not a bad gig when you get that stuff.” See? Genius. ADVERTISEMENT