We are a family-owned and veteran-owned automotive repair shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
MasterTech Santa Fe was started by Ari Gordon and Tammy Kubatek in December 1996.
Ari Gordon grew up in Chimayo in the 1970s. He was raised by hippie parents who moved to New Mexico to live off the land, including dirt floors and no electricity. They moved to Boson when he was 13 but his unconventional upbringing had already left its mark.
When he turned 18, he joined the Navy as a diver. While on leave in Boston, a friend fixed him up on a blind date with a young woman named Tammy and six months later they were married in 1984. The couple moved to the base in Virginia Beach. Ari bought a used 1980 Jeep with the last of his savings, but the engine spun a rod two days later and the dealer wouldn't help. He decided to learn how to repair it, so while still in the Navy, he went to the Automotive Technical Institute at night and rebuilt his Jeep engine on his own.
After Ari was honorably discharged from the Navy, the couple drove all over the country looking for a place to live, finally landing in Rio Rancho because of the low cost of living and the fact that Ari's aunt and uncle still lived in Chimayo. Six years and five Ford dealers later, they moved to Eldorado and decided to open their own business deciding that they had a better idea on how to run a customer-satisfaction based business. To start the business, they maxed out all their credit cards, had no savings, and were three weeks away from going bankrupt, but they found a way to continually grow every year into the business they are today. After they divorced, Tammy stayed on as the Finance Operations Manager for the business.
