Sterling shop still firing on all cylinders

STERLING – Ron’s Automotive Machine has been a Sterling machine shop mainstay for 40 years now.

Ronald George moved into the bright orange building on East Lincolnway in 1977, after several years of working out of his garage and the old C&J Speed building.

After years of hard work and dedication, George retired at the end of 2006 and longtime employee Korey Fossett took over the business.

Fossett, 50, of Milledgeville, graduated from Milledgeville High in 1984 and went straight from school into the Army, where he trained to be a tank and truck mechanic. He served 4 years in California, worked a few more years there then moved to Idaho and got a job in a machine shop.

Homesick, he headed back to Illinois in 1990. With no job lined up, he pulled out the phone book.

“Honestly, I went through the phone book and called the machine shops to see if they were looking for somebody, and Ron’s was the last one. After that, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Fossett said.

Now he’s celebrating 10 years as the owner of Ron’s, a custom engine machining and rebuilding facility. He works machines as small as a lawn mower to as large as a dump truck and everything in between, including agriculture equipment and even antique tractors.

“I’m proud to say that I have customers come from Iowa, toward the Quad Cities, and Rockford, [even though] there are shops in all those places,” Fossett said.

“My favorite thing about the job is when we build an engine for somebody and they come back and say they are really happy with it – it performs better than they thought it would. That’s what I enjoy the most.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Find out more about Ron's Automotive Machine, 2526 E. Lincolnway in Sterling, on Facebook, the Web at rons-machine.com or at 815-625-4414.