Very well put Ed and I agree. There are many good engine builders out there. You may even want to look to the Engine Builders Association as they have a list of engine builders that can be searched by state. Their web address is
www.aera.org and that may prove useful for finding that guy down the street that really does know what he is doing and just does not have the budget to advertise nationally.
As I tell my customers, the guy from far away has more perceived credibility and that is just human nature. Nobody thinks an expert can be from his own neighborhood. It seems that I build more and more engines for guys out of state these days and every one tells me that that are no good engine builders in their area and I do not believe that because I know for sure that I can not be the only good engine builder around. The funny thing is, I know of people in my own neighborhood that get engines built out of state for the very same reason that people come to me from out of state! Go figure.