Neiffer and son continuing decades of family-business tradition at Bergren's

Bergren Transmission and Auto Care has been a staple of Havre for more than 60 years, and since Steve Neiffer bought the business in the mid '80s, he has worked to keep it moving forward as a family business.

He said the business was originally established in Highland Park on Boulevard Avenue in the mid 1950s by Bernard "Abe" Bergren, whose name is on the business. At the time, it was not a transmission shop and the business was called Highland Park Repairs. The business was later sold to Dick Bergren in the mid-1970s, who sold it to Tim Clark in the late '70s, who sold it to Neiffer in 1986. 

"I was already working in a shop and this opportunity came along and so I thought I could be in control of my own destiny," he said.

He added that his parents were farmers and ranchers in Glendive, but he knew from a young age he didn't want to follow in their footsteps. Instead, he wanted to take charge of his own life and pursue what he enjoyed.

"I've always liked cars, always been into cars since I was little," Neiffer said. "Taking things apart, mechanical things, and figuring out how things work, that kind of thing. That's what I enjoyed doing."

He moved to Havre in 1981 to attend college at Northern Montana College, now Montana State University-Northern, enrolling in the automotive program, he said. He added that when he left Glendive, he never would have imagined he would be where he is today. 

During his college years, Neiffer worked at Hinebauch-Heydon Brake and Alignment as a technician and at the age of 23, when the opportunity to purchase Bergren Transmission and Auto Care came up, he jumped at the opportunity. He added that he decided to keep the name Bergren because it was already an established business at the time.

He said, at the time, it was a small business, just him and Leonard Thackeray working.

"It was a simpler time," he said.

The biggest lesson he has learned over the years was how to budget money and to live within his means, he said, adding that he had learned this early on. He said he also learned the importance of becoming a leader and the importance of taking care of his employees, customers and the community.

He said that he tries to give back to the community where he can, often doing a number of things behind the scenes.

He added that he is proud of his son, Garret, following in his footsteps and getting involved with the business. He said his son will eventually take over the business.

Bergren's is a family business, but not only because his son works there but because his employees are like family, he said. Steve Purkett, who has been with the business for almost 30 years, and Travis Turner, who has been with the business for more than 20 years, are his longest-standing employees. 

"When you say family business, really it's more than just blood relationships, it's these people," Neiffer said. "They are our friends and part of the community and everything else."

He said that for many people who work in smaller family businesses, people are often around their employees more than their spouses and other family members. He added that people start to get close to one another and if something happens in his employees' lives, it affects him as well. This aspect of the business, he said, is something people just don't usually get in bigger corporations.

Neiffer often asks his employees for their opinions and bounce ideas off of them, he said, adding that they are part of his brain trust and what is good for the business is often good for the employees, so he wants their input.

He and his employees also try to treat customers and the customers vehicles, as if they were their own and if they were doing the repairs for their own families, he said. He added that if a vehicle is not worth repairing they will be honest and tell the customer.

Garret Neiffer said that he doesn't remember a lot from when he was a child about the business, and didn't really think about the business then. But his first big memory of the business was in the mid-1990s when Bergren's moved to its current location. He said he distinctly remembers tearing everything out of the old building and painting the new building. He added that it was the first time the business became real to him.

In high school, he said, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do, and although he was often in and out of the family business, he never considered working there until his senior year, he said. He said something in his mind just clicked. He was talking automotive technology at the time and he found he had a passion for cars.

"It made perfect sense," he said.

He said he is excited to take over the business when his time comes and he knows he has some large shoes to fill, but he is up to the challenge. He added that his father is so inspired by the business and so driven to make it as great as possible. He has watched his father from a young age and saw the work his father put into the business and how his father's hard work paid off.

"Nose to the grindstone, and that's kind of how he is, and that's kind of how you've got to be," he said. 

Neiffer said that he and his father have a seamless relationship. He added that he can remember from a young age, he and his father doing a number of activities together while he was growing up.

Neiffer said he has worked off and on at Bergren's, also taking a job at Havre High School as the automotive technology teacher for a short time taking. He added that he remembers how big of a role those classes played in his life, and in the early 2010-era when the automotive technology program had no teacher and the school was at risk of losing the program, he took the job to help keep the program going. He said his father also partly inspired him. Steve Neiffer taught at Montana State University-Northern for a short time as the automotive technology teacher.

Steve Neiffer said he taught at Northern for a few years, part-time, full-time, as an adjunct professor, wherever they needed him. He said that he wanted to encourage people to get into trades, a job they can work with their hands, because those jobs are desperately needed, not only in Montana but across the country.

Neiffer said the idea was also something he carried to his business. He said a number of his employees over the years were college students who are interested in the automotive field. He added that he encourages all students interested in the automotive field to start off as interns at a business, sweep floors, change oil, be the grunt, because it is the best way to learn.

"That's where I started to learn the trade," he said.

Neiffer added that as time moves forward, so will his business. Technology is becoming more and more of a factor in the automotive industry and it is important to keep moving forward, he said.

"That's just the way the world's going," he said.

Technology is both a blessing and a curse at times, he said, but Bergren's is always looking for better ways to serve their customers. He added that he is also excited to see his son eventually take the business in the future and see what direction he will go.