People of ProsperUS: The Simmons Family

By: Weyman Cohen

Tag Team Autoworks is a collision shop specializing in detailing.  Tag Team Autoworks (TTA) has an office that does government contracts.  There is a division of the business that goes into housing and urban development.  

The Simmons family mission is to get the collision shop up and running. Gerald, having suffered dozens of heart attacks, serves his family as a teacher of business. The family as a whole is business-oriented and believes they are stronger together.  

Gerald started his career working unpaid with a friend just to get his friend’s autoworks business up going while he worked as a Detroit Firefighter.  After Gerald and his friend retired, it was Gerald’s son, Jerrel,  that got Gerald back in business.  Jerrell, having grown up watching his father work with automobiles, has always had an interest in detailing cars.  He started out with Dawn dishwashing soap and Armor All. Gerald and his wife invested in Jerrell’s ambition.  The morning after Gerald stocked Jerrell full of supplies, cars were lined up waiting for Jerrell’s services.  He came out of the day with over $1000.  In that moment, Geralds past collision work and Jerrell’s future appearance work collided and they decided to purchase a collision shop on the corner of Puritan ave, in Detroit’s Belmont neighborhood.  However, 3 weeks before Gerald was to close on the property, the country shut down due to COVID-19. 

Gerald decided to shift focus toward construction and building business, working refurbishing Cape Cod style bungalows in decayed areas while Tag Team Autoworks gets off the ground.  

Gerald and Jerrel embrace their role as a job creator in their community: offering well paid positions to kids coming out of high school, not to mention good work experience. “I’m not much for people working for me.  They can work with me”

First-preference employees include all types of minorities including women and others that traditionally would not have been given a chance. “Give people who don’t have a chance a chance.”

All in all, entry-level workers will make around $55,000, offering hope for the future like “buying a home, buying a car and feeding yourself.”  

 Tag Team Autoworks is currently preparing to offer car-detailing services in the near future. “Man it’s going to be nice to turn this into a shop that caters to the neighborhood and not a shop that picks and chooses”

• Email: tagteamdetroit@gmail.com
• Address: 14600 Puritan Avenue, Detroit 48227