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"We spent about $1,000, which is not unusual," says Christel of the initial newspaper advertising. "It's fair to say that we're disappointed. When it comes to finding highly qualified mechanics, we have found that our success rate through that advertising venue alone has not been very effective for us."

"The people who answered the ads weren't necessarily the type of people we were looking for," says Derby. "In my judgement, they may have been unemployed for a reason. The good mechanics, in our industry, are already employed.

There's not a whole lot of free-roaming free agents out there. I think our best avenue has been referrals."

Nonetheless, through their advertising they found a Toyota certified technician who was ready for a change, and had the right attitude.

"Basically, it was core values" that got him the job, Derby says. "A lot of it comes down to resume, but when I sit down and talk to somebody, a lot of it comes down to core values, and the chemistry that you have with somebody. What's their work ethic?

"He had owned his own business for a while; he was a Matco tool distributor, so here's somebody with some drive. I saw that spark in him," Derby says. "I explained how elite performance is a big part of what we do in maintaining our equipment, and he thought that was great and he wanted to be a part of this."

Unfortunately, he wasn't part of it for long.

"He chose to go back to the automotive world," says Derby. "In automotive, they probably have a harder time finding mechanics than we do, and they knew where he went and they had his number, and it was just a matter of time before they reeled him back in. They were very motivated to get him back."