KAMSACK — After a soft opening at the beginning of August, the Shamay Automotive Service in Kamsack expects to hold a grand opening of the business in mid-October.
Located in the former Kamsack School Division bus garage on Highway No. 8 north, the service station is owned and operated by the Cote First Nation, similar to the operation of Shamay Café in Kamsack and the Cote Market at Cote First Nation north of Kamsack.
Cote Band Councilor Judge Cote is chair of the First Nation’s economic development board that is appointed by the chief and council.
As the economic development officer for Cote First Nation, Angela Roque is overseeing the business, where she works with Jasmine Giroux of Cote, the interim service writer, and Warner Wunnemann, the service automotive technician.
Currently, the business is seeking to hire a lube technician and permanent service writer, Roque said during an interview in the office portion of the 3,500 square-foot building.
Open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, Shamay Automotive Service is a business open to all customers, Roque said, explaining that its staff is prepared to do most of the jobs required at a service station and for better prices than most competitors offer.
Wunnemann, who has been involved in automotive mechanics since high school and worked in dealerships in Winnipeg, Beausejour, Man., and Yorkton, updated his automotive service excellence accreditation in 2020. He came to Kamsack after having worked at Ram Industries in Yorkton.
Most of the building is a three-bay garage and Roque said she is interested in updating the facility with better lighting and possibly solar panels.
“It’s an older building, but it’s in good shape,” she said. “We want to make the building environmentally friendly.”
Among services currently available are: general maintenance of vehicles; diagnostics, brake and suspension work, and tire and fluid services.
“We can do front and rear end services and transmission work, basically “complete automotive care,” Wunnermann said. The business is equipped with a two-port hydraulic lift, a tire changer and balancer, air compressor, diagnostic scan, tool set, waste oil system, work benches and a computer with ProDemand repair software.
ProDemand delivers complete OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) repair, estimating and maintenance information, along with exclusive real-world knowledge in a single lookup, to help automotive technicians repair vehicles more accurately and efficiently.
“We’ve got the lowest rates in town,” Wunnermann said.
“We plan on reserving one bay for car detailing by next year,” Roque explained, adding that the business is working on creating an inventory of stock.
On the business’s wish list are a four-post lift and new tire machines, she said.
A member of Cote First Nation, Roque is the daughter of Hilliard and the late Esther Severight of Cote.
Readers of the Kamsack Times were introduced to her in 2009 when she received her bachelor in business administration degree from the University of Regina, having attended the First Nations University of Canada. As valedictorian of her four-year U of R class, Angela, in her valedictory address, discussed what post-secondary education meant to her, what she felt about education and she expressed her hopes for education in the future.
Roque lives in Kamsack with her husband Gerrard, a pilot and pilot instructor. The couple has a blended family of eight children.
Since her graduation, Roque has “worked all over Canada” in private and public capacities including a national charity in Toronto. She has worked in Saskatchewan and North Bay, Ont. She was a director of the Anishinabe Nation in Cote until she was hired as Cote’s economic development officer in February.
Persons wishing to contact the Shamay Automotive Service may do so by phone (306) 542-2011 or by email at shamayadmin@shamayautomotive.com.
