Past Business Spotlights
Check out some of the past businesses we have spotlighted and their awesome stories! It's amazing what people do to keep their business going and the ups and downs they experience! If you liked their story and biz, send a note to them letting them know! And if you have a business you would like to nominate or if it's your own just contact us! Enjoy these stories!
Business: Mills Canvas
Location: Minnesota
Website: www.CoverSmart.biz
Contact:
Email: millsmfg@arvig.net
Phone: 218-385-2494
I have been in the Marine Industry for over 25 years now. I started out doing all the grunt work for my parents in their basement when they first started the idea. We eventually moved to the Fergus Falls area where we raised a family and have worked ever since. My father started Mills Manufacturing in 1997. In 2003, he passed away leaving the business to the family. Being I was the only one familiar with the industry I took over with my wife, Shelly. We have grown and expanded the business with only one thought in mind: giving the consumer truly a quality product. We show our customers respect and friendship and they in return give us continued business. That says a lot about a company in this day and age. When you call, you speak to us. We try to help everyone who takes the time to contact us and will answer whatever questions you may have about the product with honesty and the knowledge we have after years of being involved in the industry. We call ourselves a "Ma & Pop Shop" and always strive for a happy customer. We just want to make sure we take the time to listen to our customers and get them what they want and need with the quality they deserve.
-Kurt Kytonen
Business: Diggerslist
Location: World Wide Web
Website: www.Diggerslist.com
Contact:
Contact Johnnie at:
Email: johnnie@diggerslist.com
In the summer of 2007, Matt Knox (co-founder) was working as an insurance broker for contractors when he began notice a common problem in the construction world. Time after time, Matt found that most of his clients would finish up their jobs and be stuck with excess materials and supplies - which would inevitably fill their garages, sheds, closets (...and lives) because there was no good place to get rid of it.
Matt smiled and said, "I can not only solve your problem, but I can make it FREE!", and he teamed up with his brother, Johnnie Munger (co-founder), to begin work on what would soon be the best online resource for contractors and property owners. For several months, Matt and Johnnie meticulously sketched out the plans for a site that would start as a classifieds for contractors, but that could grow into a full multi-tool web application to suit all the needs of the construction world.
-Johnnie Munger
Business: Lake Michigan Beach Builders
Location: Michigan
Website: http://www.lakemichiganbeachbuilders.com
Contact:
Contact Jenny:
Investment Coordinator
Reality Construction, LLC
Lake Michigan Beach Builders
Home/Office: 269/422-2483
Cell: 269/861-6030
We stumbled into this business by accident or by fate... It all started when...My husband bought a house for $5000.00 back in 2000. Back then, (before we were married) I was a web developer & he was an apprentice in the Carpenter's Union.
That house was a TOTAL hole. Neither of us had ANY experience in renovating anything. He had just started in the union as he was changing his career from being a mechanic to a carpenter. Every penny that we made & every second of spare time went into turning that property into a home. About half way through the project we tried to sell it for what we had into it because "people don't make money on Real Estate". No one would even get past the driveway so we had no choice but to finish it & move into it.....why not. it was paid for. (and we didn't want to leave the neighborhood looking bad by NOT finishing it).
It was a very small house. only 600 sq. ft and I already had two kids so that wasn't very realistic. We decided to sell the house and we were hoping to be LUCKY and get out of it what we put into it. When we spoke to the Realtor, he told us that we could sell it and actually PROFIT...We were blown away and 3 months later we had a full price offer! We made over $50k on that property!
We started to scratch our heads and "uh, hey...wait a minute!! we just made more money than we make in a year in 3 months!" so....we found another, and another and another....Mark worked full time in bridge construction & I was still a web developer, we didn't want to give up the security of our day jobs. We did these houses in our spare time. Sometimes they took a year to do, other times more. We always made great profits & in 2004 our lives changed completely.
Our first home (that we bought together) burned down. I was 5 months pregnant with our son, Trevor. We were very blessed that no on was hurt & it was that day that we realized what was important to us. After the fire, I quit my job. I decided that I really needed to be home for our kids and I wanted to oversee the repairs on our home since Mark worked 12-16 hour days on the bridges. After fighting the insurance company & getting estimates from 10 different contractors to fix our home we saw the need for quality, HONEST contractors (and insurance claims adjusters, but that is another story). Mark was nearly done with his apprenticeship & decided that we would very soon go ahead and start our own construction company. We decided at first that we would primarily do it for ourselves so that we could legitimately continue to rehab our own properties and sell them.
At this same time we were getting a lot of phone calls from people who owned houses in the neighborhood that we had been rehabbing, asking us to look at their properties & how much to fix them. Of course, since Mark wasn't licensed, he couldn't rehab those properties. In 2005 he suffered a knee injury & was off of work for 6 months. During that six months we planned and watched every penny & he went ahead and got his builder's license. Still wanting the security of benefits, pension, etc, he was out of bridge construction and working for a commercial service contractor. That service contractor's business started to fail when the economy started showing signs of recession back in January of 2008. Mark had already been building a client base when he wasnt at his full time job, doing side jobs. With Mark unemployed and fully equipped with his license & insurance, the calls kept coming in and we jumped of that bridge together. 100% of our clients are from out of state. They are second/vacation home owners.
People had said "You guys are CRAZY! Starting off on your own in a RECESSION! You are going to FAIL!" We didn't have anything to lose. Remember, what is most important to us is our family. You can't lose your family if your business fails so...Here we are nearly three years later doing EXCELLENT! Each house of our own that we rehab is a business card for what Mark can do to a house! On a tight budget! When you can show literally THOUSANDS of people what kind of skills you have, they will call.
- Jenny Fardello
Business: Sal's Heating and Cooling
Location: Ohio
Website: www.salsheatandcool.com
Contact:
sal@salsheatandcool.com
Toll Free 1-877-440-HVAC (4822)
11701 Royalton Road
North Royalton, OH 44133
Fax: 440-582-4899
I graduated from high school in 1960. I held various jobs such as Republic Steel, Burrow books, Lawson’s Dairy stores and TRW as a machinist where I was a Union steward. Then I volunteered for the U.S. ARMY when I was finished in the service, I went back to TRW I enrolled for HVAC at the Westside institute for 2 years while I was working and taking care of my family.
I also drove a zone cab part time to help pay for my education. I worked both jobs along with going to school. When I graduated I then was laid off from TRW and at that time decided factory work was not for me.I set out to find a job and finally found one making $3.00 per hour at a HVAC company. I also took a pay cut from $7.00 to do what I now love and continue to do. It was the best decision of my life. I learned from a man named Jack Jordan I credit him with most of my knowledge.
I then spread my wings and went to work for many other HVAC contractors and I came to find that I just did not like the way they operated. I had 50 dollars and a dream. I went out doing service out of the back of a 1966 convertible Pontiac. I worked in areas no one would go in, so I could feed my family. I felt that you should be fair and honest and not sell the customer something they did not need just to make a sale.
-Sal Sidoti Jr.
Business: Art Deck-O
Location: Texas
Website: www.artdeck-o.com
Contact:
woodcat@suddenlink.net
214-435-9574
I started working with my father when I was 12 years old. He was Vice President of Piggly Wiggly’s western division and a stickler for things done the right way. My work ethic comes from him and is very old school.
When I started this business, my goal was to bring artistry back into the field of deckbuilding. The first step was to be the first to fully skirt all my decks with fence pickets for a more finished look. This along with tossing in a few artistic touches on each job [at no extra charge of course] and being very easy to work with has helped to make our company the hands down favorite of our clients.
We certainly don’t fit the usual model of carpenters. We show up on time each day, keep the site clean during the project and every staff member is an excellent communicator and can discuss any phase of the project with the homeowner. We pick out all our materials by hand and deliver them to the jobsite personally each day.
All projects are treated as if they were in our yard. Special thought is put into every detail at every phase of the project. Changes during the build are always welcome and do not incur a change order fee. For most projects, our estimates are guaranteed at the amount I quote. This means no surprises at the end of the build when you normally hear “well, we didn’t think it would take us so long to get this done” or “we didn’t know we’d run into that”.
Aside from decks and fences we build pergolas, carports, garages, room additions….just about any project you might have, we can tackle it for you. We carry a lifetime warranty on all our work….and that too is in writing before we start the project. We are absolutely the best value in professional carpentry!
-Kelly Hanna
Business: Simply Savvy Aprons
Location: Los Angeles
Website: www.SimplySavvyAprons.com
Contact:
4049 Stewart Avenue
Baldwin Park , California 91706
Phone: 858 922 4551
Fax: 310 861 6578
I never enjoyed designing because I did it in efforts to please others, but I found that when I did it to please myself it ultimately made and others happy. My passion is designing for the masses. My dream is to eventually see all my ideas come to life.
Every idea begins with a passionate vision. My vision for Simply Savvy Aprons is to bring joy to women. By realizing the value of feeling beautiful, confident and sexy, I implement a sense of luxury and timelessness into every apron. Each style is given a unique name and distinct personality to compliment the individuality of every woman, helping them to realize their unique beauty.
After the introduction of my line of chic gourmet aprons, I discovered that there was another niche for aprons. Amidst the great demand for aesthetically pleasing salon aprons, I introduced a line of chic salon aprons that follow both form and function. Each and every apron has its own ingenious pocket system that allows for stylists to store their belongings. To capture the essence of the individual designs of the aprons, some pockets are cleverly hidden yet, accessible.
Simply Savvy Aprons is devoted to design that enhances the quality of life for women. No matter what your age or profession; whether you are an artist, painter, sculptor, stylist, hostess, make-up artist, chef, seamstress, or simply a person who loves to entertain, looking exquisite while doing so; this is the perfect apron for you. We provide a wide selection of salon aprons, cooking aprons and other chic essentials. As a creative design group, we aspire to introduce unique and exciting products that encompass both form and function. We love to create to provide our customers a beautifully crafted product they can be satisfied with.
-Helen
Business: The Deck and Door Company
Location: Minnesota
Website: DeckandDoor.com
Contact:
6900 151st Street West, Suite 100
Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124
Phone:952 432-1888
Email: info@thedeckstore.net
The Deck & Door Company was started almost 30 years ago in efforts to give homeowners a beautiful deck that was not only built to the fullest quality of craftsmanship but also fit the home and its occupants taste. We have developed design criteria that has been nationally published; View, Proportion, Focus. With those we have been able to design 1000s of Twin City area decks. We have also prided ourselves in using the finest material available and not just being the lowest price. Our company uses only the best quality cedar, treated and composites available in our market today. With the flood of deck builders over the past few years we have been tested to the limits of our design capabilities and being able to offer the customer something more than just a deck but an outdoor living space. A deck is truly an extension to ones home so why make it boring when being fun is so simple. With the small additions of diagonal decking and angled corners we have transformed the simple box deck into a backyard retreat. As many business owners know marketing is very expensive, but if we can get our previous clients to advertise for us it really makes the best form of marketing… word of mouth. When we design a deck we are also thinking of that person’s interests so that they can’t stop talking about how much they love their deck. That way when friends and family see it, they have to have The Deck & Door Company build their deck as well!
-Justin Mars
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