In some family businesses, dad and son work together

KEVIN TURNER/Staff--06/12/07--Father-son duo Randy, left, and Brian Green, right, of Green's Rod Shop in Callahan with a rare 1952 Pontiac convertible they restored four years ago for its original owner.

By KEVIN TURNER
kevin.turner@mynassausun.com

A father handing the reins of a business to a son or a daughter is a tradition as old as business itself.
But what’s it like to work with dad, day in an day out, well into one’s adulthood?

For Randy and Brian Green of Callahan, it’s been a way to turn a decades-long father-son professional hobby into a new career.

Randy, 57, has worked in the garage of the family’s home restoring classic cars and building hot rods for about 30 years. Brian, 30, has helped his father work and has learned the skills of the restoration trade since he was 12, beginning with a hot rod 1934 Chevrolet Coupe. His dad gave him the finished car when he graduated from West Nassau High School in 1994.

“I was always out there in the garage. My older brother just wanted to play sports, and I just wanted to mess with cars,” Brian Green said.

Over the years, their work has yielded first-class restorations of classic cars and muscle cars and customized, tricked-out street rods. Much of their work has garnered awards at car shows over the years.

And four years ago, when Randy Green retired from a career at General Electric, he found his time was freed to work on cars full time. Randy Green purchased land on U.S. 1 south of Callahan and now Brian works for him full time at Green’s Rod Shop.

“It’s OK,” Brian Green said. “Every once in a while we get on each other’s nerves. But there’s a lot more good than there is bad.”

The new shop continues the tradition of the family pride of putting the Green name on the restorations.
“That’s our name out there. You want to do your best,” Randy Green said.

Curtiss Lasserre has been in business at Lasserre Real Estate on Eighth Street in Fernandina Beach for about 30 years, he said. He said he has a picture of his son, Jon, taken in front of the business as a toddler.

“It’s amazing how fast the time goes by,” he said.

Jon Lasserre went into the real-estate business with his dad, shortly after he got a business degree from Georgia Tech.

“I grew up with it — cutting the grass and maintaining the places,” he said. “When I finished my business degree at Georgia Tech, this was a natural business. He said, 'Go ahead and give it a try; if you don’t like it, you haven’t lost anything.’ ”
But Jon Lasserre liked it and both he and his dad are happy he chose to work there.

“The amount you learn is overwhelming. It’s not like having a typical boss. You always get an honest, straight answer. And the experience is invaluable, and you spend a lot of time together every day,” he said.

“I find it very interesting and enjoyable,” Curtiss Lasserre said. “You’re able to pass on the experience you learned yourself through the years to someone who can continue with the same philosophies and methods of business.”

Father-and-son team Buddy Massengill, 67, and Jeff, 46, say they’re glad they moved their business from Jacksonville and opened Buddy’s Auto Clinic six years ago in Yulee.

Jeff Massengill has helped his dad repair cars since he was young, he said. Two other brothers who also helped have since moved on to other occupations, but Jeff has stayed with his dad’s business. He now supervises the shop and Buddy Massengill is an owner who sometimes serves as a mechanic.

“I mostly just run around and see that things get done,” Buddy Massengill said.

A steady flow of business keeps the shop’s three full-time mechanics, Buddy Massengill and one part-time mechanic busy, Jeff Massengill said. The shop can turn around six to 10 air-conditioning, exhaust and general mechanical repair jobs in a day, he said.

“We’re best friends. We have a father-son 'get together’ [argument] every once in a while, though,” Buddy Massengill said.