Aces of Trades: Newark glass technician James Chapman wins gold medal in competition
NEWARK – He’s a Zanesville native who works in Newark and recently won a national competition in Virginia Beach.
“As a kid I was very active playing football in Zanesville,” James Chapman said. “At 16 I started racing motocross. My dream was to be a professional motocross racer. I made it to local pro, but that’s where my talent ended.
“My friend Chad Clark’s dad, Chris,” he said, “worked for Jack Worstalls in Zanesville when we were growing up and we would go to that shop on Friday nights when they were working on their race cars. But I never thought I would be working on glass for a living.”
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Today, Chapman is master certified auto glass technician at Richardson Glass Service in Newark.
“My role is to repair replace and calibrated auto glass,” he explained. “The safety of the passengers in the car directly relates to the glass, from adding structural strength to the roof in a roll over to deflecting the airbags during a crash. I put every bit of focus into my installations because the passengers of the vehicle, without knowing, depend on me doing my job with passion.”
And to demonstrate his expertise, in September Chapman won the gold medal in the Auto Glass Technician Competition at Auto Glass Week at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach. Chapman took home $10,000, the winning trophy, and the reputation as the industry’s best auto glass replacement technician.
“I was very surprised I won,” he said. “I was confident in my performance, but my competitors were on point.”
Chapman, 44, grew up in Zanesville and graduated from Philo High School, then from the Madison, Wisconsin-based Auto Glass University (where’s he’s now an instructor).
“My mom saw an ad in the paper for an auto glass trainee in 2003,” he said. “She thought I would be good at it, so I applied. I ended up liking the work.”
Chapman worked at Richardson Glass Service from 2005 to 2007, and again in 2010 until now.
“I wanted to work for Richardson because of the reputation for excellence the company has,” he noted. “I knew I wanted to be good at my job and I thought Richardson was my best opportunity to accomplish this.”
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Jenny Hall is project administrator at Richardson Glass Service.
“James is a great guy all around,” assessed Hall. “He’s worked so hard to get where he is today. He’s really a team player and wants everyone to do their best and will help in any way he can. He takes pride in his work and strives to be better every single day. He always has a smile and positive attitude and brings a lot of laughter to the office. He’s an asset to Richardson Glass Service, and we’re lucky to have him as part of the team.”
“Looking back, I am very pleased with my path in life,” Chapman said. “I have a rewarding career that’s provided for me and my family.
“So many beautiful people have helped me over the years reach this goal,” he said. “I would like to say thank you to all of them.”
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they're unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com.
About Richardson Glass Service
Richardson Glass Service is located at 1165 Mt Vernon Road, Newark. For more information, call 740-366-5090 or visit www.richardsonglass.com.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Aces of Trades: Newark glass technician wins gold medal in competition
