MUSCATINE, Iowa — Brian Wolfe Jr. does not take any of his general contracting business’ success for granted.

Wolfe and his wife, Jamie, started  Wolfe Contracting Inc. in January 2006 from their garage at home and one employee.

“We had just one truck and hand tools. If we needed something big, we rented it,” said Brian, 38.

A spare bedroom served as the business office.

Seven employees now work from a large building at 2200 Grandview Ave. that offers space to park the business’ seven trucks.

“Overall we’ve done pretty good, but I have some friends out in the industry, and it’s tough,” Brian said.

Competitors from as far away as Nebraska have traveled for work at the University of Iowa that is a staple for Wolfe Contracting.

Layoffs by HNI Corp. at its AllSteel and HON Geneva plants in Muscatine cut into the Wolfes’ local business work.

“We still have a steady amount of

work, but in the construction business you have to bid everything,” Brian Jr. said. “The bidding is so much more competitive now, you really have to sharpen your pencil.”

Wolfe Contracting does work primarily for business clients who want concrete work, new construction, remodeling or steel fabrication, among other work.

But with tougher times, “You just got to start looking for other things,” Brian Jr. said.

He tries to watch man hours and keep down overhead costs, but still gets nervous sometimes.

“All of this is probably the biggest risk we’ve ever taken,” said Jamie, 38, who does the payroll and bookkeeping on top of a full-time job as a buyer in the purchasing department at Bandag.

She and Brian decided to go into business for themselves when his father Brian Wolfe Sr., for whom he worked about 15 years, drew closer to retiring.

“Growing up, I helped him build homes,” the younger Brian said. He was 17 when his father started in commercial work, “and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.

He worked at BMW Builders, which the elder Brian started in Muscatine, until he started his own business.

“I think he’s doing extremely well,” said Brian’s father, 62.

“He’s an extremely hard worker, he puts in the hours and gets along extremely well with others,” he said. “I think that’s probably the key to having a successful business.”

“When we started out, we did everything — kitchen remodels to bathroom remodels,” the younger Brian said.

“Our first big job was Pizza Ranch,” Jamie said.

Wolfe Contracting remodeled the back half of the former M&M Ford building at 102 Ford Ave. for the restaurant that opened in May 2006.

“That was the one that really got us going,” he said.

Wolfe Contracting also worked on Godfather’s Pizza, 2201 Houser St., and built Mailboxes & Parcel Depot, 2807 University Drive.

The Wolfes relocated in April 2008 to Wolfe Contracting’s location on Grandview Avenue.

“We just ran out of room and we had to make a decision,” Jamie said.

Said Brian, “We just realized we were going to stay where we were at or expand.”

Editor’s note: This story is one in a month-long series the Muscatine Journal is printing in March. The stories focus on local people, groups and businesses that have overcome economic obstacles and other personal adversity to help make the community better and create better lives for themselves and those around them.