New era for Olson Paint & Body

New owner changes the dynamics of his body shop by going green

By JAN WILLMS

Paint is making Tyler Diedrich excited these days. Diedrich, who purchased Olson Paint & Body at 3701 Minnehaha Ave. S. last April, is using PPG High Performance Envirobase at his shop, and he can’t say enough about the quality of this environment-friendly product.

Photo left: Photo right; Tyler Diedrich, owner of Olson Paint & Body, is turning to environment-friendly products in an industry that was previously based on solvents.  (Photo by Jan Willms)

“The paint is a lot more user-friendly from a technical standpoint, which makes my life a lot easier,” he noted. “And it’s better for the environment. Compared to previous solvent-based systems, the VOC emissions on this stuff are just like nothing.”

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that can enter the surrounding air. Diedrich said the paint system is made up of 80 percent reducers and 20 percent solids, which makes up the color of the paint. The new water based paint he is using is 75 percent water and 25 percent solids.

“The emissions or reducers in the water-based paint are actually water, so they just evaporate,” he explained. “It’s highly green.”

Diedrich said the new paint is comparable to latex house paint. It dries faster, gets better durability, and is more resistant to chipping.

“The new paint was one of the first things I wanted to get when I took over Olson Paint & Body,” Diedrich said. “I’m aware a body shop can be a nuisance as a neighbor due to chemicals and dust. It’s an urgent priority to get that stuff cleaned up and do what we can with it. I am mindful of that, and this paint is better for the people working with it and better for the community.”

Photo right: An automobile disassembled to be worked on at Olson Paint & Body. (Photo by Jan Willms)

Diedrich said he picked up the auto body trade in his youth. “I was just wired for mechanicals and details,” he said. “Cars just kind of came to me.” He worked as an apprentice for three years with a neighbor in his home garage who worked for the Olson’s and then became an apprentice to Joe Balluff, who owned the garage from 1998 until selling it to Diedrich. “I spent 10 years working with him,” Diedrich said.

The auto body shop has been at the same location since 1939.

“I was told that the original Olson worked at the Ford plant, and in his off time he would bring damaged auto parts to his home,” Diedrich said. “He would straighten and fix them and bring them back to the assembly line. The body shop developed from that, which I think is kind of neat.”

Diedrich said Olson and a brother partnered for a while, and then a nephew came on board. George Hanten got involved in the 1960s and worked with the remaining Olson until the mid-’70s when the Olson family left the business. Hanten carried on until 1998 when Balluff bought the shop.

Diedrich said he has had an interest in working on cars most of his life. His dad was an airplane mechanic but not that interested in cars. He said he started at Olson’s in 2002 but was not mature enough at that time to work in a body shop.

He had dropped out of high school and went back and completed his high school diploma at age 28. He attended Normandale and completed associates in psychology. “Those were a really profound two years, and I can use that degree anywhere,” he noted.

“But this was calling to me,” he said of the shop. Diedrich said he likes the entirety of his career, working directly with customers who are primarily from the neighborhood. Since he currently runs the shop without any additional staff, he does everything from start to finish.

“In addition to neighbors who are familiar with the shop, I have people stop in who said they had no idea this was a body shop,” Diedrich commented. “I take that two ways. I want the shop to be noticed, but I also like that it blends into the neighborhood.”

He is open 8am-5pm Monday through Friday, sometimes taking a lunch break around 1pm. Although not open weekends, he said he can be found at the shop frequently on Saturday or Sunday.

“There’s nothing I like better than when I have locked the door and can tinker and work on cars,” he noted. “I feel very fortunate to have landed where I am. I like that I have a relationship with the customers.”

He said he wants to try and keep the originality of Olson Paint & Body and maintain quality standards. “That’s something you’re not always able to do at a high-paced shop,” he said.