New Year’s Day 1977 marked a big day in the life of Lynnville resident Wilbur Terpstra. It’s the day he decided to take the plunge and open his own business – Terpstra Plumbing Heating & Electric.
“I’d been working at the Farm and Home Store for about 12 years and decided it was time to leave and start over and start the business,” Wilbur recalled. “It was a pretty big step, but I thought at the age that I was getting to, that it was time to do it.”
Then 40 years old, Wilbur had enough experience with electrical, plumbing, and heating that he felt comfortable going out on his own.
“I took a week off and went and talked to suppliers so I could get some supplies,” he said. “I was fortunate enough that four of the five were kind enough to give me $5,000 worth of credit to start out with. That worked out pretty good for me – I was able to get the supplies that I needed.”
As Wilbur put it, “things worked out from there.” He sold a couple of furnaces in the first two weeks after opening, giving him cash to pay back his suppliers on time. As he spent more time in the industry, he continued to learn and improve. “I went to the school of hard knocks, so if I made a mistake I tried not to do it again,” he said.
Forty years later, Wilbur is retired but the Lynnville business is still going strong, serving area folks under just a slightly different name, Terpstra Plumbing Heating & Cooling, Inc. The business now employs four people: Owners Mike and Brenda Terpstra, Ben McFarland, and Tom Sheets.
Business Beginnings
In the early days, the business was based out of Wilbur and his wife Fontella’s home. One of their sons, Mike, came on board as soon as he graduated from high school in 1977.
Terpstra Plumbing Heating & Electric became more established in the next few years. By 1983, the Terpstras’ garage – used for storing appliances and parts – was maxed out. That’s when they built the current building located at 507 East Street, Lynnville. A year or so after that, they created an office within the building.
Looking at the first 20 years of business, Wilbur said, “We had our ups and downs – through the ‘80s, things were tough. But we were able to do enough service work to keep things going.”
They took on projects like wiring hog houses and grain bins and putting in rural water lines. They also did a lot of overhead wiring work. Eventually, they bought a bucket truck for the high electrical work. In Wilbur’s opinion, that certainly beat climbing up poles by hand!
“One thing I did learn when you were climbing a pole – to not look up to see how far it was to the top,” Wilbur said. Seeing the clouds move in the sky made it feel like he was falling, an uneasy sensation he can remember all these years later.
CHANGES
After more than 20 years as a business owner, Wilbur retired in 1999, and Mike and Brenda bought out the business. Wilbur said Mike was “good to him” and let him fully retire. Being family, the two have done lots of things together in the years since, but their conversations steer clear of business. Wilbur spends his days volunteering and golfing at the Diamond Trail Golf Club and fishing some as well.
As Terpstra Plumbing Heating & Electric grew over the last 40 years, its customer base expanded beyond just Lynnville and Sully. Today, they do work in Grinnell, New Sharon, Malcom, Brooklyn, Newton, Oskaloosa, Pella, and other area towns. The growth necessitated more room for storage, so since 2002, the business has utilized a 40’x60’ building in town in addition to its main building.
A few years ago, the decision was made to eliminate the electrical part of their business due to all the rules, regulations, and costs associated with the licensing. “We decided we would just specialize in plumbing and heating and cooling,” Mike said.
Staying busy – even without electrical work – has not been a problem. Mike explained they offer a full line of plumbing, heating, and cooling products for installation, and they will also do service work on other brands of equipment.
ADVANCES
Just as there have been changes within the business, so have there been many changes within the products sold and serviced.
“Technology has really changed in the 40 years that we’ve been in business,” Mike said. “You used to be able to fix any brand of gas furnace and carry all of the parts in a milk crate. Now, we’ve got shelves and shelves full of parts to fix numerous brands of furnaces.”
His dad recalled when Lennox came out with its Pulse furnace in 1983. “That was a big item for us,” Wilbur said. “I’d guess I sold at least 200 of those. It was the first high-efficiency furnace that came out on the market.”
Wilbur estimated that when he first opened the business, standing pilot gas furnaces had 60-65 percent efficiency. Now, they are around 94-98 percent efficient, leading to big savings in the fuel cost.
Air conditioners have improved drastically as well. “Today, they run on half the electricity than they did 40 years ago,” Wilbur said.
Mike pointed out additional advances that have come out in more recent years, like touchless faucets and toilets that flush at the wave of a hand. In the area of HVAC, it is now a lot more mechanized, and a lot of the equipment has diagnostic capabilities. “If it’s broke, it won’t tell you how to fix it, but it’ll at least give you an idea of where to start looking,” Mike said.
Staying on the front-end of technology is one of the goals of Terpstra Plumbing Heating & Cooling (PHC) today.
“We just try to stay on the cutting edge of technology and use the most efficient equipment that we can use,” Mike said.
HERE TO HELP
After four decades of working in the industry, one thing has remained the same for Mike – his enjoyment in helping others.
“I like the satisfaction of helping somebody out when they’re in need,” he said. “If somebody is out of heat, it’s rewarding to go and get their furnace going or cooling going.”
Those who need plumbing, heating, or cooling work done can give Terpstra PHC a call from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. More than likely, Brenda will be the one to answer; she’s been answering phones and doing bookwork for about 26 of the business’ 40 years. Brenda said she always tries to “ask the right questions” when a customer calls in so she can get them the help they need.
Though they do get new customers every once in a while, Brenda said the majority of calls come from repeat customers – many of whom they have been doing business with since the start of Terpstra PHC. And that’s a good sign for any business.
As they celebrate reaching 40 years of servicing and supplying, on behalf of Mike and herself, Brenda said, “We’re thankful for the customers we have – for the loyal customers who keep calling us back.”
