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Community Corner

Third Generation Business Built on Family, Strong Community Ties

Evergreen Park couple Tom and Kristin Ollenburger used their expertise to keep Kristin's family business going.

When Kristin Ollenburger’s father retired from the family business in 1994, she and her husband Tom knew they could excel as its leaders.

For the past 17 years, they have. H&R Johnson Bros., 10024 S. Kedzie Ave., originally a carpentry business, has added contracting to its resume since the couple took over the firm. After meeting in college, Kristin and Tom took the opportunity to apply her business degree and his carpentry skills and see how H&R could grow.

“When we graduated college, we came back to Chicago and at that point it was something that was such an interest (to us),” Kristin said. “Tom got involved as a carpenter and I used my business background. Dad didn’t have sons, so when it got close to the time he was retiring, we decided it was something we could do together and be very good at.”

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Kristin serves as H&R’s paperwork and accounting head, while Tom “controls the outside” of the business, he said.

“I organize where our crews are going to be, I make sure they have the equipment they need and I make sure clients get everything they need,” Tom said.

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These days, the firm’s business is split 50/50 at residential and business, according to Tom, who called each side “significantly different animals.”

“On residential (jobs) we’ll do anything from basements, kitchens, bathrooms and home additions to building an entire house,” he said. “On the commercial side, we will do remodeling, we will do basic buildouts.”

Tom said H&R Johnson Bros. will also finish out empty commercial spaces for future occupants’ needs. They have also done restaurants, such as Classmates in Evergreen Park. The firm will really do any job small to large, such as building the new practice facility for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.

No matter what the size of the job, the Ollenburgers said that they are grateful for any jobs that not only come their way but come to fruition in this poor economy. While they still see a good amount of interest from both residential and commercial clients, a lot of times banks won’t release funding for the projects, they said.

“We have, in the past eight months, four projects where clients are excited and ready to go and can’t get the funding,” Tom said. “We’ve worked everything else out, but we can’t get the bank to say ‘We’re willing to fund it.’”

On the residential side of things, quickly-changing home appraisals make H&R Johnson Bros.’ work hard to complete before the bank reappraises and wants to re-negotiate loans, Tom said.

“You can’t build as fast as the appraisals come out,” he said. “That’s been a struggle.”

The Ollenburgers hold out hope that when confidence comes back around in banking, things will swiftly improve.

“I’m sure we’ve all had relationships that have gone the wrong way, where you’re reluctant to get back in,” Tom Ollenburger said of bank-client relationships.

In this economy, in order to help their business continue to grow, Kristin and Tom take a look at their own home and determine where they can “tighten things up a bit.”

“Watch your spending. We’re cautious about every expenditure we have,” Tom said, adding that the couple feels lucky to be in Evergreen Park, where the community supports each other. “We’re very fortunate to be in this community, because of the other businesses and the clientele we have here.”

The couple, who live in Evergreen Park and have three adult children, appreciates the community so much, that they are involved in it in many ways, they said. Tom is the immediate past president of the, while Kristin is on the Foundation for Educational Excellence at . They also help out with food pantries and other organizations, Kristin said.

Those interested in meeting with H&R Johnson Bros. about a potential remodel should call the firm at (708) 424-7850 during business hours.

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