The car was damaged in Texas. The repair is being done in a body shop in Kansas. That is one example of the work of an entrepreneurial auto body specialist who chooses to live in rural Kansas.
John Gean is founder and owner of Protown Glass and Body, Inc. in Protection, Kansas. John is originally from Wichita where he took vo-tech auto body classes. Even while in high school, he was working on cars for his friends.
John’s uncle owned a ranch near Protection in Comanche County west of Wichita, and John started spending summers there. He found he enjoyed the country life, so he stayed. After graduation, he cleaned out a small workshop and started doing auto body work. His first business was called John’s Auto and Body.
“I was like a sponge,” John said. “I took all the classes I could and asked different body shops how they were doing things.” He continued to upgrade his skills and equipment and went into auto salvage in a neighboring community for a time.
In 2000, he moved back to Protection and founded Protown Glass and Body. Protown sounds like it’s professional, but John said that Protown was simply the nickname for Protection as used by the local kids.
Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: John Gean – Protown”
