Jun. 29--JEFF T. JOHNSON

TITLE: Owner, Coenen Mechanical

ADDRESS: W2662 Sievert Road, Seymour

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Mechanical contractor

JOHNSON'S BACKGROUND: Age 36; originally from La Crosse now living in the Town of Ellington; graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison; prior work included leadership roles in maintenance, engineering and production at Thilmany/International Paper; Six Sigma Green Belt training.

EMPLOYEES: 25 in an average payroll week

WEB SITE: http://coenenmechanical.com

QUESTION: A lot of people who work for large companies get tired of the culture or politics and want to go independent. Was there one event that made you say it was time?

ANSWER: It wasn't specific. I looked at the next 10 years of my career and said this isn't where I want to go. I wanted to be able to set my own rules.

Q: Running your own business is tough. A lot of people don't take paychecks. You spend more time at work, don't you?

A: It's got a different twist on it when it's for yourself. But with the downturn in the economy, it is additional hours and no paychecks.

Q: You purchased this business in August. Why buy an existing business rather than start from scratch?

A: I figured that would be two years of knocking on doors. An existing business with a reputation would have a cash flow. We haven't lost one customer, plus we picked up new customers. The economy puts a kink in it, but it was quicker to learn. There were existing systems, like payroll. There was less legwork in setting up the business.

Q: When you bought this firm, you assumed the best and didn't see the recession coming. How has it gone?

A: We did fairly well through the winter. Our good customers continued to spend and we did fairly well. It heavily slowed down this spring. I knew I had to immediately reduce people. When I bought the business, I thought if there were slow weeks here or there, I'd find ways to keep people business. I had to change that strategy. The other thing that changed for me was replacing things. I held off on that.

Q: Would you have purchased the business knowing what you know now?

A: I would have, but I wouldn't have paid nearly as much. I bought it based on sales and revenue, and it's not there. I enjoy what I do, but it's tough making ends meet right now. I'm still glad from the standpoint that it's better fit for me personally.

Q: In your first fiscal year, you had a goal of a $3 million volume. Will you hit that?

A: Yes.