STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — National Automotive Experts / NWAN is excited to announce the completion of their new 34,000-square-foot office complex. The new building, owned by the company, replaces a 24,000-square-foot office the firm previously leased a block down the street.
“The move was totally crazy,” Kelly Price, president of National Automotive Experts / NWAN, “When we started moving, the temperature was zero with a -22 F wind chill.” However, in spite of the temperature, the entire office was moved and set up in 72 hours, which included their IT infrastructure needed to connect phone lines and computers. Even though the staff was back at work at new desks Monday morning, they technically never stopped working as movers actually worked around the claims or customer support areas to avoid any downtime for their customers and dealers. The only glitch in the process was that some cubicles were built to the wrong size in the claims center, but that was corrected by Wednesday.
The company, which markets their exclusive Warranty Forever® lifetime warranty programs through a nationwide network of independent auto and RV dealerships, also markets many other programs including a full suite of service contract and ancillary products. “We are excited to offer the same great products we’ve built our reputation on for the last 15 years in the industry and are looking forward to launching even more products in 2015” said Price.
National Automotive Experts / NWAN currently employs 102 people, but is projecting a staff increase to 125 employees by year’s end. “It will be a much better work flow having all the people and needed resources for a department in one area, rather than being scattered throughout the entire office,” said Price. “The claims team has a lot of room for growth. We increased our sales by over 19 percent in 2014 so we will naturally have more claims. The extra space in our claims center is a welcome addition.”
The company has also made a significant investment in technology in the new building. A room-size generator was installed so the claims staff and client relations team could continue working uninterrupted in the event of a power outage. Duplicate fiber optic cables were installed from two different service providers so that if one company experiences a problem, there will be no loss of Internet capability. “Last year, we had an issue where someone cut a fiber optic line at a construction site miles from our office that took down our Internet connection for a quite a while,” said Price. “We won’t have to worry about that happening again.”
The new facility features an enhanced employee break area, with ping-pong table, wii, exercise equipment and space for Zumba/P90x type exercises. The new training center, which can seat up to 100 people comfortably, includes a 15-by-12-foot video screen with state-of-the-art projection equipment that the company plans to use to host family movie nights. Local clubs, auto and RV dealers will also be able to use the facility. RV suppliers also looking to host local training events can also utilize the room and its technology.
Price said the company is forecasting 14 percent growth in 2015, following a 19 percent increase in 2014. “Both our service contract and Warranty Forever® programs have been responsible for a significant part of our growth,” she explained. “We are eager to grow into our new facility and look forward to serving our agents and dealership’s in 2015”.
