Longtime Czech Village business may leave C.R.

CEDAR RAPIDS -- The president of a 77-year-old Czech Village business is considering moving the company and is not ruling out Hiawatha or other nearby communities.

Randy Novak of Novak Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., 56 16th Ave. SW, cited several reasons why he is seriously exploring relocating one of the first Czech Village businesses to reopen after the June 2008 flood.

"I'm scared of a flood and hopefully the city won't have to go through that again," Novak said. "We did a lot of business on the northwest and southwest sides of Cedar Rapids where the flood hit and our customer base just isn't there anymore.

"It would benefit us to get closer to our customer base, which is primarily on the northeast side, the southeast side and north of Cedar Rapids. We also would like to be closer to the interstate to serve customers in the Corridor."

Novak said another major factor was the loss of the company's sheet metal fabrication shop in the flood, forcing the company to subcontract the work.

"It's not the right spot to rebuild our fabrication shop," Novak said. "Czech Village is becoming primarily a retail area and we increasingly had a difficult time getting large trucks in here for deliveries. We need to have our shop in a more industrial setting where we have room for expansion."

Godfrey Novak, Randy's grandfather, founded Novak Heating in 1934. The company grew through the years and added air conditioning as well as many other products and services.

Godfrey's son, Paul Novak, took over the business in 1968 when his father died in an automobile accident. Randy Novak started as an

apprentice in 1986 and worked his way up through sales and management to become president.

Randy Novak admits that his emotions are tugging at him to keep the business in Czech Village.  

"For me, it's tough because I'm Czech and we've been down here since the 1950s," he said. "We knew most of the homeowners around here, but many of them are not here anymore.

"I wake up some mornings and think we need to sell this building and either buy or build a new facility, and we need to do it right away. This isn't something I take lightly because I have a responsibility to the business and my employees.

"One factor that may prompt me to stay here is that no one is beating down my door to buy a building in a 100-year flood plain."

While Novak hoped voters would approve an extension of the local option sales tax to fund flood protection, he denied that saying he is considering moving the business is a  political ploy to pressure the city for flood protection.

"If the city were to say tomorrow that they're building a flood wall, it might make me think a little different about this," Novak said. "In the end though, there's no single reason that will influence my decision whether or not to move."