by Mary Runser

When you walk through the door of CPNU, you will not find a flashy sales floor with a crew of computer geeks ready and waiting to take your hard earned money for minimal services. Instead you’ll find a nice guy with a ready smile, backed by a wealth of computer knowledge, ready to help you solve your computer problems. “I’ve always wanted to specialize in something” Cameron says, and since establishing CPNU, it seems he has accomplished that goal.

Owning his own business was not his first dream, however. “You see, it had been a childhood dream of mine to be a race car driver.” he explained. So after graduating from Huron high school, he went on to Washtenaw Community College and took the Automotive Services program to make his racing dream a reality. He quickly learned, though, that it takes a good deal of money to be a race car driver. Even so, he decided to learn as much about cars as possible so he could better understand vehicle dynamics and how to perform his own repairs.

In the late 1980”s, Cameron purchased his first race car, enrolled in a professional racing school, and soon began competing in several states. In 1990, he secured a position as a race car mechanic with the famed Skip Barber racing school in Canaan, Connecticut. While there, he worked on all aspects of formula cars, assisted with student instruction, worked with top level race car drivers, and traveled all over the United States, which really gave him a first- hand look at the racing world and life.

After about a year and a half of racing, Cameron decided to return to Michigan and pursue his education. It was in 1993 when his interest in computers began to flourish, at which point, he enrolled in a couple of basic classes and purchased his first laptop, which he soon took apart and successfully put back together.

Soon afterward, he began building his own computers and performing repairs for his family and friends. While he enjoyed helping those close to him, that free help consumed a great deal of time, and he realized that he could turn his skills into a business. In 1997, he developed a business plan, thus beginning work on fulfilling his second dream, to be a business owner. It was slow going at first, but in 1998, he opened CPNU in its original downtown Ann Arbor location.

In 2003, Cameron returned to auto racing in both SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) and NASA (National Auto Sports Association) by competing nationally in one of the most competitive racing series available. He also dabbled in “Drifting”, which was “By far my favorite because I was able to perform stunts not allowed in traditional auto racing.” In 2006, he retired from competitive auto racing and has since focused on growing CPNU in a downward turned economy.

Cameron has recently moved his business from its downtown location to the West Stadium Shopping Plaza in an effort to reduce overhead, and provide free and accessible parking for his customers. The move seems to be paying off, and business is picking up as more people learn about his broad range of services, reasonable rates, and new convenient location. In addition to the many computer services that Cameron offers at CPNU, he also has a full line of state of the art video equipment specifically designed for race cars, which he markets by attending racing events, as well as through his in-car video site at inKarcam.com.

CPNU
Cameron Vand
1918 West Stadium Blvd.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Phone: 734-623-CPNU (2768)
Email: contact.us@cpnu.com