My Biz: CEO optimistic about future of family business

The plumbing and remodeling business runs in Heidi Karr's genes.

As a high school sophomore, Karr earned $20 a week cleaning the showroom of Affordable Plumbing and Remodeling, the business her father, Don Karr, started in 1988.

When the 2008 flood hit, the business moved into her sister Tamara's basement until their showroom was rebuilt. The business reopened in December 2008, with Heidi and Tamara taking over operations from their father.

'Dad wanted to be involved in flood recovery instead,” Heidi explained.

Karr, a proud ‘west-sider,' graduated from Jefferson High School before attending Kirkwood Community College, where she earned a degree in interior design.

'I did my internship for Kirkwood here at our business,” she said. 'I didn't think I would go into my dad's business.

'I always thought I'd be picking out curtains and helping people decorate their living rooms, but it turned out I really wasn't into that at all.”

Karr discovered she had a knack for drafting and working with scaled measurements. When Tamara left the company in 2012, Heidi became CEO and continued rebuilding the business along with three full-time employees including her brother, Donnie, who serves as master plumber.

Heidi Karr's duties include figuring bids and estimates, handling all project management, ordering supplies for her work crew and overseeing payroll and taxes.

'We don't do any new construction,” Karr emphasized. 'We are strictly residential specialists. We do bathrooms and kitchens.”

Affordable Plumbing and Remodeling primarily sells man-made materials, 'not much granite or quartz,” Karr said. 'Laminate is still huge because people can do that three or four times for what it takes to put in granite once.”

Affordable Plumbing and Remodeling also handles a lot of handicap waivers for the Iowa Department of Human Services and veterans' groups.

'We are big on doing those,” Karr said. 'Both DHS and veterans' groups have grant programs where a person can obtain a certain amount of dollars toward a remodel that will improve their quality of life.”

Karr is optimistic about business, even though she continues to rebuild toward pre-flood profit margins in tougher economic times, and an obvious tightening of discretionary money and spending habits.

'Our biggest competitor is not other remodelers,” Karr said. 'It is getting people to spend their money on remodeling and not something else.”

Affordable Plumbing and Remodeling's busiest time of year is tax season.

'That is huge for us,” Karr said. 'The moment people get their W-2s and start handing in their taxes, they call to set up appointments.

'They want to spend their tax rebates on home improvements like getting their bathrooms remodeled before their kids graduate from high school, and they have parties to throw. We stay busy on through to September.”

When Karr gets off work at night, her attention goes to the dogs. Literally.

'I go home and play with my dogs,” she grinned. 'I also run a non-profit that feeds animals in the community.”

Her non-profit, Animeals, delivers dog and cat food to 300 people a month, so they can afford to keep their animals.

'We also do free spay and neuter,” she added.

'Know a manager or company in business for more than a year that would be ideal for 'My Biz”? Contact Chelsea Keenan at Chelsea.keenan@sourcemedia.net

At a glance

'Company

: Affordable Plumbing and Remodeling

'Owner

: Heidi Karr

'Address

: 816 First Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids

'Phone

: (319) 364-3868

'Website

: www.affordableplumbingservice.com