Joe Hudson’s Collision Center recently celebrated a significant landmark: 250 locations.
“That was a huge milestone for us,” said Wendy Patrick, the company’s chief administrative officer. “In 2014, when we merged with our first private equity partner, Carousel Capital, we had 23 locations. Through that partnership, we grew to just over 100 locations. Most recently, we added over 150 additional locations through our partnership with TSG Consumer.”
Aggressive Growth
The MSO’s growth plan started in January 2015, Patrick said. It began with adding several new locations each year and grew swiftly from there.
Wendy Patrick.
“We quickly realized that we could acquire more locations annually than we initially projected,” Patrick shared. “While there was a slight slowdown during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, we resumed our aggressive expansion pace in the third quarter of 2022. We opened more than 40 locations in 2023 and over 50 locations in 2024 -- our most rapid growth to date.”
Joe Hudson’s Collision Center shops dot 18 states, primarily in the Southeast, stretching north into Maryland and as far west as Texas. The company, headquartered in Montgomery, AL, began in 1989 as a single shop under the leadership of Traweek Dickson and the organization’s namesake, Joe Hudson. Over the next 25 years, Patrick said, the company blossomed to more than 20 locations, primarily in Alabama with a store in Georgia and several in Florida.
‘We Work for Our Employees’
Company culture, Patrick said, is sturdily based around its 3,000 employees, despite its growth trajectory.
“We pride ourselves on maintaining a family-oriented culture,” Patrick said. “Naturally, as we grow exponentially, it can become more challenging to maintain that closeness. However, our core value is that we work for our employees. We take great pride in employing family members and ensuring they don’t miss out on important family milestones like Little League games and other cherished moments.”
Adequate and ongoing training is also a focus to maintain company health going forward.
“Our employees are the most valuable asset to our business,” Patrick explained. “It is a company priority to promote from within to ensure our employees grow alongside the company. We are laser-focused on providing the necessary training to equip our valued employees with the tools they need to succeed, grow and thrive.”
Quality of Acquisitions
Joe Hudson’s Collision Center has stayed focused solely on collision repair services rather than trying to integrate other types of revenue streams. Growth, Patrick said, will continue in ways that are productive for the company, with its executive team actively considering additions that will integrate well and allow the organization to continue an upward trajectory operationally.
Right now, acquisitions include some small MSOs, but are mostly family-owned single shops, Patrick said. The company looks at quality of acquisitions over quantity to ensure performance, and that practice will continue.
“In 2024, we integrated more locations than in 2023, but we believe we found the right balance. This is something we continuously assess,” she said. “Moving forward, we will be very selective about the quality of acquisitions we pursue and the number we believe we can effectively integrate. We will not add any locations that we don’t believe we can integrate seamlessly and operate at a high standard.”
Nevertheless, growth in the coming year very well could match last year’s.
“You will see us continue to expand in 2025, in much the same way we grew in 2024” Patrick said.
Qualified talent has been a big part of healthy growth, Patrick posited.
“One of the key factors in our success has been onboarding qualified, talented employees,” she said. “This has allowed us to hire more local talent in new markets and provided our existing employees with opportunities to grow and take on new challenges in other areas.”
Growth aside, repairing cars correctly is still of top importance to the organization.
“Doing the right thing is at the heart of Joe Hudson’s,” Patrick said. “We are committed to repairing cars to the highest standards and ensuring we provide our customers with exceptional service. This commitment to quality is what drives us.”
Elizabeth Crumbly