It’s official, longtime owner Bill Marsha has sold his landmark Willliamstown business to his neighbor on Main Street (Rte. 14) Chris Dessureau of Green Mountain Auto Spa and Used Cars. The sign at Marsha Motors will change to Green Mountain Auto Repair and will handle vehicle repairs (including light-medium-heavy duty trucks) and body shop work. Green Mountain Auto Spa and Used Cars will continue to do reconditioning and offer affordable used vehicle sales at their present location.
Although Bill Marsha will “retire” from the repair business, he will continue operating Lift-A-Slab, a concrete slab restoration business he entered in recent years.
“I like doing it… it’s a real challenge,” he says explaining that he raises concrete slabs on sidewalks, garage floors, and swimming pool walkways that have become uneven or sunk due to erosion. The Town of Winooski calls on Bill Marsha for projects around their city.
“I think Chris (Dessureau) will do very well with this property. He believes in Williamstown like I do and stands behind his work,” notes Marsha.
In all there are over 9000 sq.ft. in the three Marsha buildings plus the original house (now 213 years old) on Main Street that Bill’s parents purchased and that Bill was born in 1956.
Bill’s father Leon had great mechanical skills and ran Crossway Motors’ parts department for many years. He was also famous for building over 200 wooden “Beaver Boxes” for pickups that received recognition from as far away as California.
Bill started 35 years ago at the home business doing mechanical work, first on Toyota pickups and then to other vehicles. He closed the body shop about 15 years ago.
Bill’s favorite year in business was 1998-1999 when he raced at Thunder Road, first in the Tiger division for three saesons and then moved up in 2000 to the Late Model Division for three seasons. He proudly points out that he won a feature race in the Tiger Division. “Getting your car ready for each race is something else,” Marsha smiles broadly. He stopped racing when Thunder Road moved to the “spec motors,” noting that “money does buy speed.”
Bill continued to operate the Marsha Motors mostly for cars and light trucks but their big 45′ x 60′ building could handle big trucks as large as fire trucks.
Bill has nothing but good words for the Town of Williamstown who has “always treated me fairly.” He has seen lots of growth in the town, like the Industrial Park, Pump & Pantry, Dollar General, and many smaller businesses in the downtown. “I used to be able to pull out of my yard without waiting. Now you may have a five minute wait for a break in traffic. I’ll keep my nose to the grindstone and try to make some money. I sure thank all my automotive customers for all the great years they’ve given me.”
Chris Dessureau has also done well in Williamstown since starting in the used car business in November 2016 at the former Economy Auto Sales. On October 4, 2017 he moved Green Mountain Auto Spa & Used Cars to Main Street. He had worked at Freedom Nissan in Burlington and West Lebanon, N.H., as well as at other high positions at dealerships in Central Vermont. “I wanted to do my own thing,” admits Dessureau, “I thought I would do 10-15 cars a month, but I have far exceeded that.”
On Chris’ business card is his slogan, “Where Our Community Is Everything.” “I believe if someone buys a 1,000 dollar car, they deserve to get as good of a car as possible. That’s all they can afford. Bill was very ethical and I believe in giving back to the community, too.”
Dessureau is very excited about having the Marsha property just down the street from his for repairs of cars, lights, big trucks, and body work—including two paint booths. “We have state of the art equipment including what’s needed for the new state inspection system. We can work on everything from lawnmowers to big trucks.”
Dessureau is emphatic about being the Williamstown Service Center in every way… including “Where the air is free here.” -GH