Mihalko's General Contracting

In a 4 room half a double home in the small mining town of Eureka #42, Louis and Agnes Mihalko raised their four children – Marlene, Cindy, Daniel and Louis III.

Lou was the one always into things – tearing things apart and then fixing them up. He was always mechanically inclined.

Upon growing up and entering Johnstown Vo-Tech, he took up HVAC and learned the plumbing, heating, and air conditioning trade. He worked while in school and over the summers at Bestform – loading trucks, at a local paving company - paving driveways, and at Larkin Company delivering furnaces and plumbing supplies. Instead of looking for a job after graduating from High School in 1979, Lou started a small handyman business of his own. He had the idea that because of the low economy at the time, and the fact that the prime rate was pushing 18%, people would always need things fixed.

And, he intended to be there to fix it. So, he borrowed tools from his friends and relatives, strapped his ladder on his mom’s ’72 Toyota station wagon and set out. He eventually fixed everything available so he advertised his handyman service in the Tribune Democrat and got 3 calls the first day. That did it, he was hooked. He did small plumbing and faucet repairs, broken steps, hanging a blind, painting a porch or a window. Whatever people needed done, he was there to do it. It was apparent to Lou that there was a need and the phone kept ringing.

With his handyman business steadily increasing, Lou hired a friend or two to help. Rod Debias and Jeff Leipchak were his first employees. Lou has many great stories from back then, but the one that stands out is when he was called by a local funeral home. The funeral director met Lou and his men at the door and said “Just go right in there and ignore the big fellow laying on the table. The rope just broke and I couldn’t fix it and I heard that you guys could”. Well, evidently he was trying to move a 300 lb. body and the hoist had broken! Believe me, that is a far cry from fixing a window! It was a real weird experience trying to change pulley ropes with a dead body under us!

Well, word spread and years passed. Lou kept doing his thing, the jobs kept coming in, and soon he outgrew his grandmother’s basement office. He decided to buy an old railroad siding building owned by Berwind Coal in Windber. To help defray the cost, he and his friend Joe Paros, a sign painter who had lost his arm in a automobile accident, worked out of the same building. Lou’s next venture was a Solar manufacturing and installation business which thrived in the early 1980’s due to tax credits. Around the mid 80’s, he decided to take his business to the next level and hired his first salesman, Merle Rouser, who was originally a Stanley Product/Fuller Brush salesman. He could sell ice to an Eskimo! Well, they became a tag team! Business prospered and they decided that a telephone solicitor/ secretary/bookkeeper/typist was needed. An ad was run and Marian Horner answered it. Lou and Merle went to her home to interview her and she said “Yes” to helping with phone soliciting from home as the old warehouse railroad siding building was just not suitable for female habitation at that point. You see, they had no heat, water, plumbing, or bathroom facilities. Now, for men to pee in the coal pile was one thing, but a female – now that is another story! In order to convince the hired help to stay hired, they decided to build a one room office at the old warehouse. When the office was complete, it was 9’ x 9’ with two desks to do the job of answering the phone, doing the book work, plus the telephone soliciting. Actually, Lou and Marian didn’t seem to mind that the heat was a kerosene heater in the idle of the office! And the Slovak Club and Mimo’s Italian Restaurant had a nice bathroom with running water in a pinch!

Well, the little 9’x 9’ office soon was overrun with paper work and another friend of Lou’s, Jim Vasilko, was called in to design a new office inside the old warehouse. They even went so far as installing a brand new bathroom! What a blessing! Whew!

(Though the Slovak Club missed our business). The expanded offices were filled with an additional salesman and Todd Weaver, Lou’s right hand man, was acting Supervisor.

Sales and volume was once again expanding at a rapid pace. The jobs were getting larger and larger so Lou thought it was time to try his hand at building new homes.

In 1987 Lou started his first spec house and sold it after it was completed. He proceeded to build and sell 11 homes through the early 1990’s. Recession hit again in 1991 and Lou found himself in dire times due to the high interest rates and not being able to sell his last home for more than a year. The economy was bad for 3 years but that didn’t stop him. He sold his way out of this recession and prospered in the coming years even more.

The new Fire and Water Restoration Business was started with a true need from insurance companies and adjusters. Lou went back to training and took courses in Fire and Water Restoration and introduced himself to many of the local insurance people who took an instant liking to him and recognized that they could use his expertise. Little did he know what was coming! Soon he was being called to look at all types of fires, gas explosions, tornado damage, and even major church fires. He needed help and fast! Brad Clapper was recruited and immediately took control of that division. He also expanded it with Wayne Wolfe in the Altoona area and both formed strong unions with the insurance industry people.

Merle Rouser always said that a building in a high profile location would help out tremendously and Lou had been searching for years for a good location. In 2001 he located a small piece of land by Lowes and the Johnstown airport and decided that this was the place to make his dream come true. In two years, the building was designed, permits secured, zoning changed and Mihalko’s Design Center was created.

The Design Center was created to help customers get the quality, service, and material in one location; and this was achieved by hiring the area’s best kitchen designer, Bryan Miller. The flat screen TV in the new center offers the chance to see your kitchen as it is designed in front of your eyes. Lou is quoted as saying “the Design Center has really helped us to become the top remodeler and Fire and Water Restoration contractor between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg”. Mihalko’s employs over 40 people with high quality craftsmen, masons, painters, electricians, siding mechanics, roofers and tile setters.

The marketing that is Lou’s passion has always kept the name “Mihalko’s” in front of all his customers. This September they will be celebrating 28 years in business.

It began as a dream in a young man heart many years ago and has finally come true. Talk to him about it and who and what does he attribute it all to? To his wife, Wendy (the love of his life), and his son (Daniel), and his daughters (Chelsea and Larissa). To his family, his brother Dan and sisters Marlene and Cindy. To his mom and his now deceased dad, who saw and recognized his potential and helped him realize his dream. To his workers, who have stuck with him through the fat and lean years. And to his church and God whom he thanks for everything.

According to Lou, “Life is short and much needs to be done. I will continue to keep being innovative, having fun, working hard, and giving back as much as I can. I thank God for Everything”.