The Skala family timeline

1. 1919.

   Mihalj Skala opens the first car paint shop in Subotica.

   Mihalj Skala (Mijo, Mihajlo) applied for a licence to open a craft workshop, which he received at the beginning of 1920. It was the first car paint shop in Subotica.

   The third son of Šima and Agata Skala, Mijo began learning a trade at the age of 14, apprenticed to masters who built carts, fiacres and carriages. Painting and varnishing came most naturally to him. Learning from various masters, he even made it to the famous “Misura” car factory in Budapest, where he gained enviable experience.

   After he married, he founded his first workshop in Subotica. Precise and meticulous, he won the trust of Subotica’s landowners, whose carriages he was the one to beautify. Starting from nothing and relying on the work of his own hands, he worked hard, earned a good reputation and built up his fortune.

   His entrepreneurial spirit never rested. He soon extended his business to cars, whose numbers in Serbia were growing, and at the time became one of only two car painters.

   When nitro lacquer came into use, he imported the first compressor from France, making his work much easier. Towards the end of his career Mihalj faced yet another innovation in the trade: having mastered carriage making, painting with natural pigments using oil and brush, and compressor spraying with nitro lacquer, around 1965 he also had to learn to work with synthetic lacquers.

   Mihalj Skala was a typical product of the Subotica craft school: passionate about his calling, punctual, meticulous, serious, curious, enterprising and a man of his word. While his son chose a career in public service, Mihalj was fortunate that his elder grandson, Zoltan, came to love his grandfather’s trade. When Mihalj was preparing to retire in 1969, Zoltan was ready to open the workshop doors and keep welcoming customers.

2. 1969.

   Zoltan Skala takes over his grandfather’s workshop and grows the family business.

   The decision transferring the grandfather’s workshop to his grandson Zoltan read: “Zoltan Skala – craft workshop, Gavrila Principa 15, Subotica. Activity: painting and varnishing of cars and other metal objects. Date: 10 January 1969.” Mihalj Skala knew that Zoltan was worthy and ready to run the family trade on his own.

   In 1975 Zoltan married Vesna Nenezić, and they had two sons, Igor (born 1976) and Srđan (born 1980).

   Over its first hundred years the Skala family business grew – true to the family name – step by step, scale by scale. Zoltan inherited his grandfather’s entrepreneurial spirit and kept improving the business: he expanded the offer with body repair of damaged cars using hydraulic and pneumatic tools, chassis rust protection and, from 1985, the production and fitting of plastic wheel-arch liners. He redesigned the company logo and printed leaflets presenting the services.

   On top of all that, Zoltan was a passionate sportsman – a sailor. His sails on Lake Palić were an enchanting sight that drew curiosity and interest, and in this way he contributed to the history of this beautiful sport.

   Fate, however, had other plans for the Skala family. Painting and varnishing took a heavy toll on Zoltan’s health. Although the business was thriving, he decided to change direction. In 1985 he bought new business premises on Horgoški put in Palić, and the family house on Zelengorska Street.

   His interest in plastics and in plastic processing and moulding technology gave him a new direction: the production of plastic funeral products and the development of irrigation systems. By bringing the company “Aurometal” into his business, he solved one of the key requirements of his chosen production – tooling – securing the conditions for further growth and an edge over an ever-growing number of competitors.

   During the sanctions, Zoltan Skala moved part of his business to Hungary. His company “Poliext kft” produced polyethylene pipes, while the necessary components were made in Palić, where the development department and the production of irrigation-system components remained.

   Zoltan never neglected the upbringing and education of his heirs. Just as he had been prepared for life, he strove to prepare Igor and Srđan to join the family business and carry the family company forward.

   During privatisation in Serbia, Zoltan Skala took over the Subotica company “Aurometal”. The Skala family’s production programme overlapped with that of “Aurometal”, which proved to be the right path for continuing a successful business.

3. 2000.

   Igor founds Skala Green; in 2005 Srđan founds Skala Garden.

   Zoltan’s elder son Igor founded “Skala Green doo” with the aim of developing agricultural irrigation systems. The company soon became synonymous with modern irrigation for vegetable gardens, orchards, vineyards and arable land, and he built the business across all of Serbia, including a branch office in Zemun.

   Before long, his younger brother Srđan joined the family enterprise with his company “Skala Garden doo”, founded in 2005, focusing on the production and distribution of irrigation systems for public spaces, parks, football pitches, golf courses and other large areas. His company has established a strong market position and successfully meets complex professional challenges.

   Worthy of their tradition and raised on the values that have held both the Skala family and its business together, Igor and Srđan always strive to be the best, most modern and most efficient in their field. “Skala Garden doo” became the exclusive representative of the renowned American company “Hunter”, whose systems it designs, advises on, installs and distributes. “Skala Green doo” represents the Israeli company “ICL”, a unique producer of controlled-release mineral fertilisers, as well as “NaanDanJain”, one of the best-known manufacturers of irrigation equipment, and the production range of “Poliext csövek kft”.

   Srđan took over the management of “Poliext csövek kft”, with Zoltan as an adviser whose ideas, experience, knowledge and refinement still contribute greatly to the company and his successors.

   In line with modern business trends, “Skala Green” and “Skala Garden” are dedicated to developing software that will soon connect all Skala family companies, as well as to tool and equipment development and the robotisation of individual production stages.