Journey Financial to move to downtown square
By NICOLE HASEK
Tim Heisterkamp, owner of Journey Financial, plans to move his growing business to the vacant building on the southeast corner of the square once renovations are completed, which he predicts will be finished by early next spring.
Heisterkamp started working solely out of Home State Bank in 1998, completing his own paperwork, faxes and other tasks for the investment center. After a few years when the business started to pick up, the bank hired a full-time assistant who he has now been working with for 20 years.
“Twenty-six and a half years ago I started doing this, and it has just grown and grown and grown,” Heisterkamp said.
Journey Financial now has two advisors, two administrative assistants and a junior broker, requiring them to find a space that can provide an office space for each employee. Some offices will be large enough to hold conferences, an update the business needed. The building will also have additional office space for future employees as the business continues to grow.
“We’re just outgrown for our place [in the bank], for the vision of where we want to take this, we just need a bigger space,” Heisterkamp said.
The east side of the building with the mural will be replaced with new brick and windows, as the wall is “dilapidated.” Heisterkamp said the current bricks and stucco can be easily removed due to the lack of mortar holding it together.
As a former high school economics teacher, education is an important aspect to Heisterkamp moving forward with Journey Financial. An education room will be built into the new building with the goal of hosting regular seminars for community members that could hold up to 50 people.
Heisterkamp said these seminars are important because they would help attendees better understand financial topics, including investing, budgeting, insurance, retirement plans, taxes, Medicare and Social Security. These seminars are one of the main reasons Heisterkamp wanted to purchase this building.
“I’m about education and making sure my clients are smarter clients,” Heisterkamp said. “I’m into education, I’m into the outflow of information so we can have smarter, wiser investors and people understand all things financial.”
Heisterkamp said this room could also be used as a community space to rent for business meetings, and plans to host Greene County Community Foundation meetings as they do not currently have a building to operate out of.
The exterior of the building is being completed by Mark Devilbliss and Brad Bendickson is working on the interior. Solar panels may also be added to the roof to try and decrease energy costs. Heisterkamp said these renovations were made possible by a $150,000 matching facade grant from the city and a $150,000 forgivable loan for the exterior.
“I wouldn’t have done it without [the grants],” Heisterkamp said. “Those two grants are making it possible to make that building a beautiful building and a viable place.”
Once this building’s renovations are complete and Journey Financial is able to move in, all corner spots on the town square will be filled.
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