Around age 10, Matt Mevert helped his father build a superpowered go-kart fitted with an engine that they pulled out of a wrecked motorcycle.

By middle school, Mevert was spending hours a day in the garage that his dad ran as a side hustle to his full-time coal-mining job. Rather than go back to bed after finishing a paper route at 6 a.m., he’d go help clean the shop and remove and replace faulty auto parts.

“I just ate it up,” Mevert said. “It’s still the coolest thing to me to take something broken, figure out what’s wrong, fix it, and put everything back together. And we’ve got to get it right: that vehicle is carrying someone’s life, family, or business down a road. We have to be our best.”  

Since opening his own tiny shop 33 years ago in Steeleville, Illinois, Mevert has never wavered from his own high standards—for his business, his customers, his team members, and his commitment to serving his community.

For his success as a trusted automotive professional, respected industry mentor, and generous supporter of local families and programs in need, Mevert is the 2026 Ratchet+Wrench Award winner.  

The 30,000-Foot View

Mevert Automotive & Tire Center, Inc., has grown from its humble beginnings into two bustling full-service locations, including Hale’s Automotive in Marion, Illinois, with 23 employees, $5.2 million in annual revenue and an ARO of $720.

The team includes three ASE World Class Technicians, one ASE Master Technician, three techs with one or more ASE Certifications, and one NAPA ASE Tech of the Year. At least three are shooting for ASE President’s Club recognition, a source of pride for Mevert.

Driven by seven core values that cover repair work, customer service, and expectations for employees, the business has been NAPA Auto Care Gold Certified since 2019. It also won the “Best Places to Work” award at this year’s VISION Hi-Tech Training & Expo.

Technicians have advanced technology and dealer-level diagnostic tools to work on a 50/50 mix of individual cars and fleet vehicles, including diesel models, specialty electrical trucks, boom and bucket trucks, flatbed one-tons, and RVs and buses.  

Mevert emphasizes transparent inspections, honest estimates, and customer education to help people make informed, safe, and cost-effective decisions. The company offers a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty plus NAPA EasyPay financing plans.  

Outside his shop, Mevert has created a nonprofit to provide cars to low-income families, funds athletic teams and other local organizations, and serves as a church deacon. He also supports ongoing training and advancement for his technicians, service advisors, and managers.

“I wouldn’t be in this position without him,” says Stefan Skelton, manager of Hale’s Automotive. “He’s the most upstanding person I’ve ever worked for. If there’s anything he can do to help you in your professional or personal life, he will. And that’s rare.”

A Lifelong Love of Cars

Mevert, 54, is a native of Steeleville and an ASE Master Certified Technician. His grandfather and father were mechanics, and the family enjoyed going to local car races from the time he was a very young boy.  

Once he had his go-kart, Mevert and his buddies got permission to cut a circular track on a field owned by a family friend, where they raced for hours. 
“It was a blast,” he recalls. “For an 11- or 12-year-old boy, I mean, that’s the dream. That’s what got me hooked.” He later raced oval dirt modified cars for 25 years and still likes to attend races with his family.

By high school, Mevert had plenty of mechanical experience from working with his father and at a Chrysler dealership over two summers. He opted to join the Air Force after graduation—both his grandfather and father had served—to explore electronics as well.

Assigned to maintain missiles on B-52 bombers and F-15 fighter jets, Mevert did two years of active duty plus four years in the reserves. Most of that time was at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana with a final post with the reserve fighter wing at the now-defunct Lambert Field Air National Guard Base in Missouri.    

The training in electronics proved invaluable at a time when computerized systems were becoming common in vehicles. Missing mechanical work, Mevert assumed he would rejoin a dealership after leaving the military—until his dad urged an independent path.

“The coal industry was drying up, and he was bitter that promises about job longevity were not being kept,” Mevert remembers. “He said, ‘Do your own thing. Don’t rely on anybody else.’ He was the one who pushed me into entrepreneurship and running my own shop.”

Mevert completed two years in Southern Illinois University’s Automotive Technology program and received Accredited Automotive Manager certification from the Automotive Management Institute. In 1993, he opened his business at the back of a welding shop his dad was running.

With only enough space to service one or two cars, Mevert worked alone for the first two years before hiring a high school student to help. In 1996, he moved into a freestanding, four-bay auto repair shop next to the welding location and, after adding on to that several times, built a new eight-bay location in 2017 on West Broadway Street in downtown Steeleville.

Bringing a Strong Team

Along the way, Mevert regularly collaborated with professional coaching organizations and other shop owners to improve his business skills.  Over the past six years, sales at the Steeleville location have grown by nearly 75%; its ARO has increased by 70%.  

“I have a peer group on a chat that has really poured into me,” he shares. “They were branching into multi-shop operations and challenged me to keep growing.” In 2023, Mevert acquired Hale’s Automotive, a shop open since 1989.

At the time, Skelton was working as a service advisor following years as a technician. Spotting a potential manager, Mevert pushed Skelton out of his comfort zone and convinced him to go to leadership training.

“Matt built me up into this position,” Skelton says. “He looks for the best in people and listens to everyone’s ideas. He was a tech who has been at the bottom, too, so he knows what’s possible and what to do if something goes wrong. He’s not just someone with the money fronting the business. He’s the heart of the business.”

Jon Donnell, manager of the Steeleville location and a 15-year employee, started off as a cleaner at age 19. Mevert offered him almost daily chances to observe and practice simple to complex auto repairs and, when Donnell considered leaving the industry, talked him out of it.

“If I have a question as a manager, Matt is always there,” he says. “He allows me to make mistakes. He trusts that I made the best decisions for a customer at the time; his only interest is what we can learn from it.”

After a pause, Donnell adds, “He’s a humble person who has taught me a lot about fixing cars, but maybe even more about life. What makes him exceptional is not just the growth he’s had, but how he achieved it. His success has never been driven by the pursuit of profit or recognition, but by a genuine commitment to serving others.”

Core Values in Action

About a decade ago, Mevert developed a list of principles that he believed could hold his team accountable and anchor his business no matter how much it expanded:

• Commitment and Care. Second only to the safety of our customers is their peace of mind. We go the extra mile for our customers and our team members.
• Trust through Transparency. Full disclosure. Respect is gained by first respecting.
• Leadership and Teamwork. Driven by leadership, we pursue the mission as one body, even in the face of adversity.
• Personal Accountability-Character. Do what we say we are going to do. Do the right thing even when no one is looking.
• Attention to Detail. It’s the little things that make the most difference.
• Family-Community. Not cliché, just truth. Our families are our community and our community is our family. 
• Self-Improvement-Education-Learning. Pledge every day to be the best version of yourself. Sometimes we win, sometimes we learn. We have not arrived. 

“I believe people do business with people that they know, like, and trust,” Mevert asserts. “Our goal is to treat our customers with empathy and integrity. Basically, treat them how we would want to be treated. That’s what gives them peace of mind.”

At each staff meeting, team members discuss one of the core values. When they finish the list, they start over at the top.

Beyond those expectations, Mevert aims to be a hands-off leader other than pitching in if he sees a need. “I want to trust people’s skills and individuality,” he explains. “They should have the freedom to do things their own way, as long as they’re acting within our guidelines.”

Adds Skelton: “If someone doesn’t meet his standards, they’re not around long. But if they do, they’re going to get what they need to do well. Training, equipment, flexibility, fairness—and probably a lot I’m forgetting.”

As an example, Skelton successfully requested two extra lifts at his location to accommodate heavier trucks and increase productivity. And when he had to take three months off for neck and back injuries, he received full paychecks without asking.

Meanwhile, when Donnell bought land for a new home, Mevert showed up to help dig holes for water lines. “He did some heavy lifting for me,” Donnell says. “My boss is just a really good man.”

At work, Donnell saw the core values in action even when he was scrubbing the shop’s white concrete floors in 2012. Mevert didn’t like oil stains, so Donnell would fill a five-gallon bucket with mineral spirits, scrub with a wet rag, and then follow behind with a dry rag.

“By the end, it looked brand new,” he says. “It was about always putting our best work in. That continues up to working on vehicles, where the question is, ‘Would I put my mom in this car?’ If not, we’re not done.”

And “done” means 100% finished. One case study: a customer who brought his car in after trying to change his own battery but failing to properly secure cables. Technicians repaired the wiring and reset the dashboard lights.

Fixed? Not quite. As another team member was pulling the car around for checkout, he realized that in the process of removing the battery, the customer had left purely cosmetic pieces of the part on a back floorboard.

“We could have easily ignored that, but our guys took the time to put everything back in place,” Mevert says. “We want our customers to leave knowing they don’t have to worry.”  

And if customers ever have concerns or feel the shop has failed them, Mevert stresses compassion rather than defensiveness: “We’ve got to listen and get it resolved. At the end of the day, we need to make things right.”

Serving Beyond the Shop

Giving back has long been a priority for Mevert, a devoted family man who has been married to his wife, Andrea, for 26 years. She serves as the business’ co-owner and office administrator and in accounts receivable. They have three sons, Brad, 25, Zach, 21, and Cody, 18, as well as a Miniature Schnauzer named June.

Mevert Automotive pours support into fundraisers, youth programs, school events, and community nonprofits. In 2018, the business began gifting a car to a local family in need every December. That effort grew into a nonprofit, Wishes on Wheels of Randolph County, that now does two annual giveaways.

Many of the vehicles come from customers facing a big repair who decide to donate or sell at a low price. After techs fix up the cars to make them completely reliable, the shop sends them to families nominated by area schools and churches. Additional fundraising and partnerships with community groups have also helped cover insurance, registration, and fuel.

In one recipient family, the mother had walked her kids about three miles a day to school, even in the rain, snow, or wind. “They were all crying because they were so happy,” Mevert says. “There have been a lot of tears over the years. It’s just really special.”

To nurture future generations of industry workers, Mevert sits on the Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Automotive Technology Advisory Board and has held several free automotive intro and small engine training classes for high school students. He also has hosted educational sessions for customers to help them understand basic car repairs.  

Beyond that, Mevert is a member of the Steeleville Chamber of Commerce (which named him Steeleville Citizen of the Year in 2026) and Rotary Club, a youth basketball coach, and volunteer for an annual Fourth of July race that starts at his shop.  

Mevert’s wife and sons, along with shop team members, have frequently pitched in on initiatives. “Everybody here knows who Matt and his family (are),” Donnell says. “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever heard him turn someone down or say no to a request.”  

Jared Pemper, Pastor of Steeleville Baptist Church, agrees, describing Mevert as “one of the bedrocks of our community.”

Mevert, a deacon at the church, teaches a class for married couples, serves as a role model for younger men at a breakfast Bible study, and volunteers with the children’s ministry, a commitment that includes a week of living in a cabin at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp.

“He is possibly the most sacrificial and giving person I’ve ever met,” Pemper asserts. “People look up to him, and he definitely has the gifts of patience and encouragement. He’s one of the greatest sources of encouragement in my life.”

As for the future, Mevert is open to more growth for his business. Acquiring the Marion shop and building relationships with a new group of team members, customers, and community organizations was a source of joy, he notes.

“I’m thankful for those people (at that location) every day,” he says. “We’ve been able to do great things because of them. We’ve always had a growth mindset and a steady evolution, which I think will continue even if nothing specific is in the works right now.”

Winning the 2026 Ratchet+Wrench Award, he adds, is a major honor that he credits largely to his team.

“We’ve spent years trying to do the right thing as we fix some cars,” he says. “It means a lot to be recognized for that; it’s actually hard to put it into words. We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing.”