RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - On June 11, the B&J Body Shop open house provided guests with cookies and a gift on entry into the inner courtyard.  Owners Dan Charlebois and Mike Passof visited and answered questions with all those helping celebrate the 60^th anniversary of B&J Body Shop, held at their business location at 11000 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, at the corner of Folsom and Kilgore.  The event ran from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The large and up-to-date facility was open for inspection and featured displays of work underway and completed. Vintage vehicles graced the open courtyard.

The owners, employees, visitors, friends, and families all enjoyed the party atmosphere in spite of the 100-degree heat, aided by a picnic menu of teriyaki chicken, sliced New York strip steak, green salad, fresh fruit and Kelli’s Cookies, with the Kona Ice truck helping to cool things off. 

Ken Cooley of the California Assembly 8^th District, a customer of B&J Body Shop, appeared in person to offer congratulations and to present a plaque for the business’s continued outstanding work and community presence.  Other presentations made to B&J included Dana Jorgensen for State Senator Andreas Borgeas, Jasmine Osmany for Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli, and Linda Budge for the City of Rancho Cordova.  “What an epic story is the B&J Body Shop,” Cooley said.  “It’s an honor to be with you and present this to you.”  Cooley, as well as being a past customer of B&J over the years, recently had paint work done after his new car was broken into. “Their work is excellent, excellent, excellent,” Cooley said.

B&J has been and continues to be active in community events and participates in and supports many organizations in the City and surrounding communities.  This includes Cordova Community Council, Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce, Folsom Chamber of Commerce, Sun River Church, Second Slavic Baptist Church, Youth for Christ, Cordova Cordettes Synchronized Swimming Team, Cordova High School Lancers and Folsom High School Bulldogs, Rancho Cordova Rotary and the Elks, as well as Charlebois and Passof taking part in their various professional organizations.

The owners both emphasize the importance of the employees.  “This is the American story,” Passof said.  “They just put their socks and shoes on, go about their work very quietly and efficiently and do a magnificent job.  It’s really about the employees.”  While some employees are new to the company, many have considerable longevity.  Bryan Caldwell started out with B&J in 2002, not long after graduating from high school.  After two years moving through washing cars, detailing, polishing, priming, and masking for paint, Caldwell decided his interests were in being a body technician.  “I get a lot of satisfaction from fixing things,” Caldwell said. “So at B&J I get to do something I enjoy while earning a living.”

Signs throughout the different departments, designed and created for the event by bookkeeper/office manager Sonja Warner show personalities and information about the owners, prior owners, and employees. Warner herself has been with B&J since the year 2000, and her sign revealed the “little known fact” that her favorite genre of movie is a “cheesy disaster flick.”

B&J Body Shop began in 1961 as B&J Motors, originally named for Bill Zumwalt, Jack White, and Bud Tracy, the original owners.  In 1963, the business moved to its current location at the corner of Folsom and Kilgore in Rancho Cordova.  In 1973, Buzz Chamblis bought it and in 1975 sold it to Frank Andrews, who hired Rick Johnson and Steve Messner to manage the business.  In turn, Johnson and Messner purchased it and the name became B&J Body Shop, Inc. In 1996, Dan Charlebois partnered with Johnson and Messner and in 1998, the partners added a state-of-the-art paint shop.  Charlebois and Passof purchased B&J Body Shop in 2009. 

In 2022, the history of the company continues in a way that exemplifies the various ownerships through its history.  “We’re still hometown folks,” Passof said. “There’s a lot of corporate consolidation in our industry, but we’re one of the proud ones to say that we’re a single location and still standing on our own providing some solid, hometown values out here.”