Mark Teter, left, co-owner of the Teter and Company Body Shop in Ringgold, talks with Ken Kokinda of the Ringgold Service Center, another auto repair shop a few blocks away that was destroyed in the April 27 tornado. Teter has made some of their service bays available for use by his business competitor.RINGGOLD, Ga. – As a mechanic for the last 31 years, Cotton Perry is used to helping people after breakdowns.
But after a tornado destroyed his Ringgold Service Center in April, he’s thankful the generosity of a rival mechanic shop has kept him from a major financial breakdown of his own.
“We didn’t know what we were going to do,” Perry said. “I can never repay what they’ve done out of generosity.”
After hearing about his competitor’s problem, Mark Teter, who co-owns Teter and Co., called Perry to offer the use of three of his bays so Perry could help his customers and pay his employees.
“They brought us in here like family,” Perry said. “It’s kept us from being in a food line somewhere.”