By ROD LEE

The significance of thirty years in business is not lost on Steve Bloem. Then again, he isn’t making a fuss about the anniversary. This will come as no surprise to people who know him.

He is, after all, “a low-key kind of guy.”

Bloem’s Auto Repair is situated in a small one-story whitewashed building at 194 N. Main St. in Uxbridge. There are two service bays, out of which Mr. Bloem and his right-hand man Rick Costa operate. Around the walls of the garage are all of the trappings of the trade: tires, air filters, oil guns, air hoses, wrenches, screwdrivers: paraphernalia of every sort, which Mr. Bloem jokingly refers to as “the mess.”

Mr. Costa’s personality seems to reflect that of Steve Bloem: cordial, accommodating, unpretentious, matter-of-fact; and dependable.

Several years younger than his boss, Ricky Costa has been with Bloem’s since 1995; in other words, for almost the entire time. He is Tonto to Steve’s Lone Ranger, Little John to Steve’s Robin Hood, Gaga to Steve’s Tony Bennett, Dustin Pedroia to Steve’s David Ortiz.

“I just do my thing,” Mr. Bloem says of his unruffled approach to his craft.

As for Ricky, “I stay in my corner,” he says, with a smile.

There must certainly be moments after such a long run working side by side when friction has flared, but this is a case of “what happens here…” and the fact is, customers of Bloem’s understand their vehicles are in good hands.

Steve Bloem has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father while keeping the enterprise “small and manageable. This is a comfortable life,” he says.

Nevertheless, he has told his two daughters to “stay away from it.”

His wife Sherri helps out as business manager, handling the financial details that her husband really does not have time in his busy workday to address.

He takes unexpected developments in stride. There are always those. “There is always the damsel in distress,” he points out—which, he notes, hearkens back to the days when the woman of the house was responsible for dealing with automotive repair shops while her husband was selling encyclopedias or running a drill press.

“Last-minute jobs, we strive to work them in,” he says. 

Bloem’s services all makes and models of cars and trucks. Steve Bloem also sells used vehicles, “some years more than others. It complements the repair business.”

There is no underestimating the value of Ricky Costa to Bloem’s.

“We get along well and if I put him on a job I know it’s done right,” Steve Bloem says.

As for himself, clients of Bloem’s get the impression he would rather be changing out brake pads or installing a new muffler than being stuck at his desk in the office much of the time.

When it comes time to take a picture of the two of them, Ricky says, half-seriously, “Steve should have a pen or a telephone in his hand.”

They keep up with the latest technology and they keep on truckin’.

“If you want to be technical about it, we started in '49,” he says.

He is carrying on a family business.

Contact Rod Lee at [email protected] or 774-232-2999.