Independent Business Journal https://independentbusinessjournal.com/ Long-form profiles of owner-run American businesses: the contractors, cleaners, lawn crews, plumbers, painters and electricians who keep a town running. en-us Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lewis Beam still runs the Fairview lawn business his father started in 1980 https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/beams-lawn-landscaping/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/beams-lawn-landscaping/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Lewis Beam was 13 when his father started a landscaping business in Fairview, N.C., and he still runs it with his wife and a three-man crew, without a computer. The bricklayer behind McHenry Masonry hires the kind of teenager he used to be https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/custom-masonry-chimney-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/custom-masonry-chimney-llc/ Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Trades After a union pre-apprenticeship and years restoring Twin Cities landmarks, Andre McHenry built a St. Paul masonry company that hires high school students and gives people second chances. Bryan Polk is still the whole crew at Polk Lawn Care Services https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/polk-lawn-care-services/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/polk-lawn-care-services/ Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape In Killeen, Texas, Bryan Polk mows and landscapes mostly alone, and he is studying his old planners to build a business that keeps going when he steps away. Ilgar Yakubov still hangs the doors at Express Garage Door Repair in Dayton https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/express-garage-door-repair/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/express-garage-door-repair/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Home Services Customers of a Dayton garage door company describe it by the clock, and the name they keep mentioning belongs to the owner, who still handles the residential work himself. Valley Cleaning Services in Vinton keeps its evenings for the kids https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/valley-cleaning-services/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/valley-cleaning-services/ Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cleaning Stephanie Teruel has cleaned homes and offices around Vinton, Virginia, since 2020 with a small crew of mothers who work daytime hours and keep their evenings for their children. Chimney Sweep Service looks after the Brooklyn flues people forget they have https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/chimney-sweep-service/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/chimney-sweep-service/ Mon, 07 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Home Services Vlad, the owner, took over a friend’s Brooklyn chimney company and spends much of his time on the flues that vent boilers and water heaters, where the danger is invisible. Jesus Garcia’s gutter crews are his three sons and a nephew https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/gutter-and-filter-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/gutter-and-filter-llc/ Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Roofing & Exteriors Jesus Garcia gave up roofing in Denver and moved his family business to Oklahoma, where two crews form gutter on site and try to finish every house in a day. Restoration Done dries out the house, then stays to put it back together https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/restoration-done/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/restoration-done/ Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Construction The Spokane Valley company handles both halves of a disaster, the cleanup and the rebuild, along with the insurance paperwork that sits between them. Rupert Richardson learned house cleaning from his mother and now builds his own apps https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/rupert-light-cleaning-solutions-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/rupert-light-cleaning-solutions-llc/ Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cleaning Rupert Richardson still cleans for families he first served beside his mother, and he now uses AI tools to build the software that runs his Essex County crew. Evan Collins started Premium Lawn Maintenance before he finished high school https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/premium-lawn-maintenance/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/premium-lawn-maintenance/ Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Evan Collins builds his Davison lawn and snow crew’s week around one idea: keep the jobs close together and fill the dump trailer once. At Fontenelle Window Cleaning, the crew takes its shoes off at the door https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/fontenelle-window-cleaning/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/fontenelle-window-cleaning/ Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cleaning Two Bellevue cousins started a window cleaning company in 2023, and their customers write as much about how the young crew behaves indoors as about the glass. Blake Harrison’s HVAC sideline grew into a Montgomery crew of almost 20 https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/harrison-heating-air/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/harrison-heating-air/ Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC Blake Harrison ran his heating and air company on the side for years, then built a crew of almost 20 that he means to leave to his sons. At Picasso Painting and Drywall, the father and son are both named Adan https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/picasso-painting-and-drywall/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/picasso-painting-and-drywall/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Painting The Vancouver, Washington, company paints houses, refinishes cabinets and patches drywall, and its customers keep writing about the prep work and the small fixes nobody asked for. A Jacksonville plumber built PureFlo Plumbing on hourly pay and no salespeople https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/pureflo-plumbing/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/pureflo-plumbing/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC Ryan Heitman spent nearly 20 years plumbing for other Jacksonville companies, then built his own around hourly pay, no salespeople and an owner who answers the phone. Team JP Landscaping would rather grow slowly and stay in business https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/team-jp-landscaping-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/team-jp-landscaping-llc/ Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Jonathan Idrovo runs the Jacksonville yard company he started with his father, and he picks jobs by how they use his crews’ time, not by how big they look. Cody Bartholomew spent 10 years earning the licenses to open Titan Electric https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/titan-electric/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/titan-electric/ Mon, 29 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Electrical After a decade working up through Oregon’s electrical licenses, Cody Bartholomew opened Titan Electric in Salem and kept a photo record of the jobs that followed. Carlson Painting’s crew is Chris Carlson and his son, and he wants it that way https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/carlson-painting/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/carlson-painting/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Painting Chris Carlson once ran a crew of painters he trained himself, but now he works only with his son and keeps every job in his own hands. Melvyn Gomez turned weekend tree jobs into Garden Oaks Tree Service https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/garden-oaks-tree-service-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/garden-oaks-tree-service-llc/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Melvyn Gomez took small tree jobs on weekends until the calls outgrew his day job, and his Houston crew now prunes for homeowners, neighborhood associations and a water district. Emerald Heat & Air fixes the system, then explains it https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/emerald-heat-air/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/emerald-heat-air/ Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC Sarah Hiler and Emi Alsobrook started the Norman heating and air company in 2010 with one truck, and they made teaching customers about their equipment part of the job. Jarrell Wilson learned carpet at 10 in his grandfather’s Houston company https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/worldwide-aaa-development/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/worldwide-aaa-development/ Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Home Services Jarrell Wilson learned the carpet trade in his grandfather’s Houston business as a boy, and now runs his own crew doing the same work. Matt Moody started The Leak Geeks Plumbers with one van and a name his kids helped pick https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/the-leak-geeks-plumbers/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/the-leak-geeks-plumbers/ Mon, 25 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC After more than 25 years in his father’s Mobile plumbing business, Matt Moody branched off with one van and a name he and his kids came up with. S & S Property Maintenance sends a climber where the bucket truck can’t go https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/s-s-property-maintenance/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/s-s-property-maintenance/ Mon, 18 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Steve Grabill built his Vandalia, Ohio, tree company around rope-and-saw climbers instead of heavy trucks, and he still hires himself out to climb for other crews. Tristan Rouse passed on taking over a pest control company and started Pest Patrol instead https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/pest-patrol/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/pest-patrol/ Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Home Services Tristan Rouse was in line to take over the pest control company where he had worked for five years, then left to start Pest Patrol, which he runs alone. All Craft Exteriors owner Brent Beck has been hiring his friends since the farm stand https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/all-craft-exteriors-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/all-craft-exteriors-llc/ Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Roofing & Exteriors Brent Beck built his Rochester roofing and siding company around the best installers he knew, and many of them came from the small towns where he grew up. At Eagle’s View Window Cleaning, John Day cleans up to five stories of glass from the ground https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/eagles-view-window-cleaning/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/eagles-view-window-cleaning/ Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cleaning John Day, a Marine veteran and former rural mail carrier from Idaho, cleans Tulsa homes and low-rise buildings by himself with purified water and a long pole. CK Flooring’s owner spent 15 years laying floors and now sends out the crews https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/ck-flooring/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/ck-flooring/ Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Trades Colton Kinnaman laid floors for 15 years and now sells the jobs from a Louisville store while two crews of installers put them down. Scruggs Electric has been rewiring the old houses of Seminole Heights since 1992 https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/e-i-electrical/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/e-i-electrical/ Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Electrical Dennis Scruggs built a Tampa electrical business on the wiring of old houses, and many of his customers have stayed with him for years. At All Garage Door Repair, Monty’s cards still hang beside the doors he fixed https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/all-garage-door-repair/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/all-garage-door-repair/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Home Services After her brother Monty died, Dionne Stein kept his Aurora garage door company going with one technician and the business cards he left beside every door he serviced. Seattle’s Zaytura went from hanging wallpaper to building decks on rooftops https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/zaytura-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/zaytura-llc/ Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Construction Farkhati Ashurov, a civil engineer from a family of engineers, started Zaytura in 2024 doing handyman jobs and has steered it up onto Seattle’s flat roofs. At AmeriTop Roofing in Wilmington, the roof is sometimes only the first job https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/ameritop-roofing-contractors/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/ameritop-roofing-contractors/ Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Roofing & Exteriors Raised among his father’s contractor friends, Richard Linville runs a Wilmington roofing company that will also build the deck or the retaining wall. At Gino’s Concrete in Denver, the work that matters is under the driveway https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/ginos-concrete-inc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/ginos-concrete-inc/ Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Construction Gino Martinez has poured Denver driveways, patios and steps since at least 2014, and his customers keep describing the part they will never see again: the ground underneath. Mark Solomon learned the painting trade in San Francisco, then brought it home to Medford https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/solomon-painting/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/solomon-painting/ Mon, 09 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Painting A union apprenticeship in San Francisco shaped Solomon Painting, which has worked across the Rogue Valley since 1992 and sprays its doors and trim in a heated shop. The owner of My Tree Guy of Franklinton won’t take a job more than 15 minutes from home https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/my-tree-guy-of-franklinton-n-c/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/my-tree-guy-of-franklinton-n-c/ Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Jonpaul started out splitting barbecue wood; now he runs My Tree Guy himself, climbing and cutting trees for customers no more than 15 minutes from his house. At AB’s Painting in Albuquerque, it all comes down to the estimate https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/abs-painting-llc/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/abs-painting-llc/ Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Painting Ramiro Dominguez painted for another Albuquerque company for 10 years before starting AB’s Painting from his house, and he still believes the bid decides the job. Down & Dirty Demo built a Colorado Springs demolition company on tearing out old floors https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/down-dirty-demolition/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/down-dirty-demolition/ Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Construction Matt Rial and Mike Keigher grew up working in a family flooring business, then built a demolition company around getting old floors up fast. Your Way Tree Service bought a tub grinder and stopped hauling its trees to the landfill https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/your-way-tree-service/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/your-way-tree-service/ Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Lawn & Landscape Jesse Montoya built his Los Angeles tree company from door-to-door work in 2008, and a machine in his own yard changed what happened to the trees his crews cut. The high school helper who ended up running Action Craft https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/action-craft-carpet-and-upholstery-cleaning/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/action-craft-carpet-and-upholstery-cleaning/ Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Cleaning Michael Greenwood was a high school helper to the man who started Action Craft in 1984, and he now runs the carpet cleaning business by himself. The family behind Klein Tools has made lineman’s pliers since 1857 https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/klein-tools/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/klein-tools/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Tools & Equipment A Chicago blacksmith’s repair for a telegraph lineman became Klein Tools, which his descendants still own and run, six generations on, for the trades that carry its pliers. Carhartt still belongs to the family of the man who started it in a Detroit loft in 1889 https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/carhartt/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/carhartt/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Workwear Hamilton Carhartt’s family has owned the Dearborn workwear company since 1889 and has kept it making clothes for people who work, even when fashion buyers wanted more. The Vermeer family still runs the Pella company that gave tree crews the stump cutter https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/vermeer/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/vermeer/ Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Tools & Equipment Gary Vermeer’s heirs still own and run the Iowa maker of stump cutters and underground drills, under hiring rules the family began writing in 1989. Tommy Mello started A1 Garage Door Service painting doors for $100 each https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/a1-garage-door-service/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/a1-garage-door-service/ Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Home Services Tommy Mello learned garage doors by painting them on weekends in Phoenix, then built A1 on manuals, a training center and a share of the company for technicians. Jimmy Hiller started his plumbing company with $500 and a pickup truck, and he still runs it https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/hiller-plumbing-heating-cooling-electrical/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/hiller-plumbing-heating-cooling-electrical/ Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC A Nashville plumber who once chased builders for payment built Hiller into a 17-location home-service company with strict rules for every truck and a school for his own technicians. Ken Goodrich held the flashlight on a Goettl as a boy, then bought the company and rebuilt it https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/goettl-air-conditioning-plumbing/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/goettl-air-conditioning-plumbing/ Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC A Las Vegas air conditioning technician who learned the trade from his father bought a Phoenix cooling company founded in 1939 and built it into an HVAC and plumbing business in four states. George Brazil’s Phoenix plumbing company now belongs to its employees https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/george-brazil-plumbing-electrical/ https://independentbusinessjournal.com/profiles/george-brazil-plumbing-electrical/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT Plumbing & HVAC George Brazil started his plumbing company in Santa Ana in 1955 and changed how the trade charged and equipped its trucks. Seventy years later, the Phoenix company that carries his name is owned by its workers.