Ionia is located in Ionia County, Michigan in the central part of the state, about 36 miles east of Grand Rapids.

S & P Auto Body is located at 470 Price St., Ionia, MI 48846-1451.

The business has recently formed a partnership with Bumper Poole, which was located at 330 W Lincoln Avenue, but which is now located in the same building with S & P Auto Body on Price St.

Location of S & P Auto Body on Price St in Ionia, MI.

S & P owner, Bill Sain, and Bumper Poole owner, Rick Poole are optimistic that their new partnership will benefit all community members.

Sain says that the new business will focus on great customer service and fast, quality work.

An article at the Sentinel-Standard.com website reports:

The shop provides a large work area where body and mechanical maintenance will take place, and it also has a large, state-of-the-art paint booth where Sain and his employees finish their hard work. Both businesses will also use a computerized estimating system for costs.

Sain loves to work on cars and has worked on them his whole life. He has experience working on on hot rods at a business in Grand Rapids and since then has decided to open his own collision repair business.

The business owners have made a significant investment in the new spray booth as well as a water-based paint that they mix themselves.

Sain says that the water-based paint is more eco-friendly and he expects it will provide superior paint matching. Sain also emphasizes that the water-based paint is the “way the EPA is pushing everything” and with the paint system, they expect to be able to match anything.

The spray booth “bake cycle” is an important feature and is designed to improve the quality of the finish.

Sain says that they have put in the “best of the best” in equipment and material and that his work carries a lifetime warranty.

Published by Finish Pro Spray Booths, a national paint booth supplier of automotive spray booths, cross draft, downdraft and industrial spray booths.

Street view of Howden facility at 338 South Broadway Street in New Philadelphia, OH.

New Philadelphia is located in Tuscarawas County, Ohio in the eastern part of the state about 27 miles south of Canton and about 120 miles northeast of Columbus.

Howden North America is a manufacturer of fans and ventilation units. The company’s New Philadelphia facility is located at 338 South Broadway Street in the south side of town.

Location of Howden North America Inc. in New Philadelphia, OH.

The settlement involves a fine of more than $109,000 in a civil penalty relating to three paint booths used to coat metal parts in the company’s New Philadelphia facility.

The EPA said toluene and other toxic chemicals were used in the paint booths and that some amounts were in excess of what is allowed under air pollution standards. The EPA also said that the company did not have the correct permits or maintain its records correctly.

Howden maintained that it bought the plant in 1997 and that the problems stem from the prior owners. The company was relying on permit applications that were submitted by the previous owner and a registration status which was approved by the Ohio EPA at that time.

The company recently discovered that coatings that they were using at the New Philadelphia facility were not included in the previous applications. Additionally, there were new air quality standards that had been issued in the meantime which required additional record keeping and reporting.

Erin Strouse, from the Ohio EPA says the company is working with the agency to correct the problems:

“They’ve cooperated with our agency and have agreed to apply for the required air permits and properly maintain facilities and emissions units and keep the records that they are required to do.”

Most of the company’s troubles had to do with their failure to submit reports and maintain certain records to show that Howden was complying with the new air quality standard. Sometimes the materials used in the spray booths were in excess of allowable limits on VOC content (volatile organic compounds), but the emissions from the usage of those materials at the facility was low (about five tons per year).

The Ohio EPA has made a determination that the allowable limits no longer applied because of the low usage at the facility.

Howden pointed out that the emission levels were not harmful to its employees or to the general public.

Crossdraft Paint Booth

For a lmited time only, Finish Pro Spray Booths is offering Free Shipping on all paint booths and paint booth filters to help ignite sales in the auto body, automotive and industrial paint booth sectors.

“We realize due to the circumstances of the economy, we have to do our part to help our friends who are in need. If that means less profit for us, then that is the way it has to be”, says Jennifer Gottardi, owner of The Finish Pro.

Finish Pro offers automotive spray booths, truck booths, downdraft booths, industrial spray booths, accessories such as paint arrestors,  paint booth filters, intake filters, exhaust filters, exhust duct kits, spray booth light fixtures and more.