By Tim Krohn

Lynn and Darla Austin have been married 30 years and in business together for 29 years.

Lynn, a Worthington native, and Darla, from Nicollet, own Austin’s Auto Repair Center in North Mankato, but the business began on the Mankato hilltop.

Lynn, after graduating from Dunwoody, went to work for Crown Auto and then Lager’s, where he was service manager.

In 1979 they struck out on their own, leasing the former Hilltop Citgo station (where Conoco is now) on Madison Avenue.

“Don Olson owned the property. We borrowed $10,000 from my mom and Don helped us a lot, giving us our initial inventory without any up-front cost,” Lynn said.

Beside selling gas and doing auto repairs, they sold used cars — for a short while.

“I was too much of a perfectionist,” Lynn recalls. “I spent too much time on getting the cars in great shape that we couldn’t make any money on them.”

In 1986 they sought a building of their own and found it in Upper North Mankato, site of the then Bob’s Building Center.

With help from employees, the Austin’s spent a couple of months and $40,000 turning the building into a service shop.

Today they have six full-time and three part-time employees

Their son, Chris, is a CPA at Eide Bailly and their daughter, Danielle, just began a kindergarten teaching job in Gaylord.

Mankato Magazine: What are the rewards of running your own business?

Lynn Austin: It’s a lot of work but very rewarding to grow your own business.