From Newspaper Delivery To Business Owner, John Lutgen’s Forty Year Journey
The founder and longtime owner of Lutgen Companies, John Lutgen is my latest guest on WJON's My Life Series.
Early Years
John was born in 1961 and grew up in St. Cloud. He is the youngest boy out of 14 kids in the Lutgen family with 2 younger sisters. John has 7 brothers and 6 sisters. He recalls there always being action at the Lutgen house and his friends recognized that.
A busy Household
John's father worked as a boiler engineer at St. Cloud Hospital and his mother was a full-time stay at home mom. John recalls his early years were focused on family and a lot of fun. He liked to play baseball, hockey and all the siblings and he were expected to help around the house.
Started Working at a young age
John's first job outside the home was a paper route where he delivered the St. Cloud Times. He recalls doing that for many years starting when he was 9 years old. John also recalls mowing lawns for money in the neighborhood. He says his older brothers had a big influence on what he did and they liked to hunt and fish and so did John. He says his father never really hunted but his brothers helped get him interested in it. John says hunting has become a family tradition as he hunts along with his son and grandson.
Time in School
John went to kindergarten at Wilson School before attending elementary school at St. Paul's which later became St. Peter and Paul. John went to Apollo High School, where he graduated. He believes he was among the 7th graduating class at Apollo. While in high school, John worked part-time jobs at Walmart, Shopko, and then Tony's Standard gas station when he was a senior. He says there wasn't time for sports as he chose to support himself by earning some money.
Met his Wife in High School
John met his wife, Lisa while attending Apollo High School. The two were high school sweethearts and they've been together ever since. He says without the support of a great wife things probably wouldn't have turned out the way they did.
Liked Working with his Hands
John recalls being interested in fixing things which included working on his car as a kid. He says he wasn't great at it right away but learned quite a bit as he got older. John's first vehicle with a 1959 Ford half ton pickup. He says it was a great beginner truck. John says he had it for about a year.
Off to College
After graduation John went to St. Cloud Vo-Tech College to pursue a career in sheet metal bending. It was an 11 month program. At the time John had a job working at Woodcraft Industries on Lincoln Avenue from 3:30pm - 2am which allowed him to pay for his education.
The Start of a Siding Career
John says the economy wasn't great after obtaining his degree so he got a job working for a siding contractor, Ben Berg. He credits Ben for teaching him siding and after a short period of time, he was ready to go out on his own. John says he worked for Ben for 3-4 months. As a 22-year old he says it was tough finding jobs siding homes. John says he got some help from one of his brothers and the two came up with $3,000 to start the company. His brother loaned him $1,500, which John later paid back.
The Start of Lutgen Siding Company
When Lutgen opened the business in 1983, it was called Lutgen Siding Company. John says the business was called that for the first 15 years of operation because that's all he thought he'd be doing. John recalls Tom Lembeck, the Building inspector in St. Cloud at the time, being very helpful in pointing him in the right direction many times early in his career. He says customer service has always been very important to him and would often times go back and fix anything he needed to especially in the first 5 years in business.
Slowly Added Employees
John primarily worked alone in the early years of the business. He says Gerry Wieber was one of his first employees and became a longtime business partner. Gerry is a current business partner with owner, Sean Lutgen today. John says after about 3-4 years, he realized the siding business was really working for him.
Name Change
Lutgen Siding company added more services as time when on. John says roofing with the first addition before windows and then the seamless gutter machine, following by some home additions. He says they also built approximately 10-15 homes over the years. John recalls changing the name to Lutgen Companies in approximately 1998 because of the additional services offered.
What John is Doing in Retirement
John and Lisa Lutgen have two children, Sean and Molly. He says both kids were involved in working in the company at an early age. Sean now has 3 children and Molly has one. John retired from Lutgen Companies in 2020 and now enjoys hunting, fishing and watching his grandkids play sports.
If you'd like to listen to my 4-part conversation with John Lutgen, click below.
