For Erin Hackney, entrepreneurship has taken more than one form. From keeping vehicles on the road to solving plumbing problems and even exploring the world of specialty coffee, he has been willing to build, learn, and pursue opportunities in very different industries. Through it all, one priority has remained consistent: the importance of relationships.
As owner of DoneRite Automotive and DoneRite Plumbing & Drain, Erin leads two local service businesses built around needs people encounter in everyday life. The work may be different, but his approach to business is much the same. Erin believes success comes from more than completing the job in front of you. It comes from earning the kind of trust that brings people back.
Trust Under the Hood
DoneRite Automotive serves Turner, Salem, Aumsville, and surrounding communities from its Turner location. The full-service automotive repair shop works on most makes and models and handles everything from routine maintenance and oil changes to brake repairs, engine diagnostics, larger repairs, and pre-purchase inspections.
The automotive industry is one where trust carries particular weight. Most customers are relying on the knowledge of the person inspecting their vehicle to tell them what needs attention, what can wait, and what will help keep that vehicle safely on the road. DoneRite Automotive acknowledges that directly, emphasizing both knowledgeable service and the importance of being a shop customers can trust.
The shop backs its work with what it calls the DoneRite Promise: if a service is not done right, the company will make it right. It is a straightforward commitment, but one that reflects the accountability Erin wants associated with the DoneRite name.
Relationships also take on another level of importance when customers are fellow business owners. A company vehicle is often more than transportation. It may carry employees, equipment, tools, or materials and be essential to serving customers each day.
Sara Klindtworth, owner of fellow Chamber member Solid Roofing NW, has trusted DoneRite Automotive with her company’s truck fleet for the past five years. Her experience offers a local example of the kind of long-term business relationship Erin values.
“As a roofing company, we understand how important it is to have people you can trust to keep your fleet running. Ryan and his team at Donerite Automotive have earned that trust. They’re friendly, knowledge, and take the time to make sure our vehicles are in top shape. Their quality of work, attention to detail, and customer service really stand out – and, true to their name, they sure everything is Donerite”. – Sara Klindtworth, Owner, Solid Roofing NW
That relationship is one example of how locally owned businesses can support one another. When one business helps keep another company’s vehicles moving, the impact extends well beyond the repair shop.
Bringing the DoneRite Approach Home
DoneRite Plumbing & Drain brings the DoneRite name into another essential service industry. The company serves Salem and surrounding communities with residential plumbing services that include drain cleaning, water heater repair and replacement, leak detection, sewer repair, repiping, fixture installation, and plumbing for kitchen and bathroom remodeling.
Here, too, the nature of the work requires trust. Plumbing problems can be disruptive, unexpected, and sometimes urgent. Customers need someone who can identify the problem, explain the options, and carry out the work professionally.
DoneRite Plumbing & Drain emphasizes honest advice, workmanship, customer care, and solutions intended to help customers protect the longevity of their plumbing systems. Feedback published on the company’s website reinforces the value of that approach. One longtime customer describes trusting Erin and his work after relying on him for installations and repairs for many years. Other customers point to the team’s persistence in solving difficult problems, responsiveness, and willingness to help when plumbing issues disrupted their homes.
Those experiences provide a useful picture of what Erin means when he talks about building relationships. It is less about saying that a business is relationship-focused and more about what happens over time. Customers return. They trust the company with another project. They recommend the people who helped them to someone else.
An Entrepreneur Willing to Explore
Erin’s entrepreneurial interests have also stretched beyond the two DoneRite companies. He has dipped into an entirely different kind of business with Righteous Roast, a specialty coffee and tea company offering small-batch coffee, including single-origin, flavored, and specialty roasts, along with loose-leaf teas. The company emphasizes fair trade, sustainable, organic, and ethically sourced products.
It might seem like an unexpected addition alongside automotive repair and plumbing, but it offers another glimpse at Erin as an entrepreneur. He is willing to explore an idea, learn a different business, and turn an interest into something tangible. Righteous Roast’s story describes the company as growing from the search of a regular coffee lover for a better cup, eventually developing into a brand centered on specialty coffee and tea.
There is something distinctly entrepreneurial about being comfortable operating in such different spaces. Automotive repair, plumbing, and specialty coffee do not share an obvious business model, but each requires understanding what people value and creating an experience that gives them a reason to return.
The Value of Local Relationships
That idea is particularly relevant within a Chamber community. Local businesses are interconnected in ways that are not always visible from the outside. They maintain one another’s vehicles, repair one another’s buildings, buy from one another, exchange referrals, and become customers of one another. Over time, those interactions create a local network built as much on relationships and reputation as on commerce.
Erin Hackney has built businesses around solving practical problems, but the larger story behind them is about how he chooses to do business. DoneRite Automotive keeps people and businesses moving. DoneRite Plumbing & Drain helps keep homes and properties functioning. Righteous Roast represents an entrepreneur willing to venture into something new.
Different industries, different customers, and very different kinds of work, but a common thread runs through them: take care of people, stand behind the work, and build relationships that last.
For Erin, that is what it means to get it DoneRite.
