Celebrating 55 Years Of Clean Water: An Interview With Wif Finken

After 55 years building relationships in central Minnesota, we’d like to take a look back at the man who’s been here, day in and day out, ever year, founder Wif Finken.Wif Finken was born and raised near Birch Lake and St. Rose, Minnesota, North of Melrose. He served in the U.S. Air Force, and afterward built airplanes for a manufacturer in Alexandria.“I was living in Freeport when I first started in the softener business as Wif Finken’s Water Care, so my first customer lived south of Freeport,” Wif said.Wif’s competition kept saying he wouldn’t last 6 months in business, which only served to motivate him to work harder to earn customers and build relationships with customers. At the time, most water softener providers in the area wheeled in their softeners on a cart, exchanging the physical tanks every month. This was hard on the homes of customers. Wif started out with a smaller cylinder which he could carry into the basement.“We used a sling to carry it so we didn’t bang up people’s stairs,” Wif said. “Our cylinder’s had a newer mineral as well, which let us treat more water at one time.”With these advantages, Wif started to build his business. After about 3 years, he was able to hire his first employee, Bob Jansen of Sauk Centre. As employees were added, Wif continued to provide personal service, and train his employees to provide the same level of service and build the same healthy relationships he did.“As long as you do a good job and provide a good service, people will do business with you. There’s no need to be cutthroat,” Wif noted.Wif Finken, founderWif speaks with customers at the anniversary celebration.Over time, technology and products continued to improve.“When I first started, we would set the water softener to recharge manually by the days of the week and the number of people in the house,” Wif said. “Then it improved to be able to recharge by the number of gallons which have been treated, and eventually a battery backup was added.”He also said bags of salt are 40 or 50 lbs. now, but used to be 100 lbs. each.One distinct memory Wif has is of a very near miss, where he could’ve been severely injured or killed on the job.“Years ago, homes had cisterns underneath for storing rainwater for laundry and washing,” Wif explained. “I was walking across the floor of one home when the softener tank and everything fell through the floor into the cistern! Luckily I was far enough away at that point to escape going down with it.”Wif first expanded into plumbing, heating and cooling in 1977, and expanded to 5 employees by 1981.From left to right: Mike Blaskowski, Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Manager; Sharon Blaskowski, daughter of Wif Finken; Wif Finken, founder; Chris Blaskowski, Water Treatment Manager.From a one-man shop, Finken Water has expanded to be Finken Water Solutions and Finken Plumbing, Heating and Cooling. Finken is still family-owned, with Wif’s son Tom taking the reigns in 1997.Over the years, Finken has moved from their original Melrose location to 4 different buildings throughout Melrose as their needs changed. Finken now has about 40 employees and 4 locations serving all of central Minnesota: Melrose, St. Joseph, Litchfield and (in December 2016) Brooklyn Park.A 55th Anniversary celebration was held September 16 at the Melrose location.“I was surprised at how many people showed up to the party,” Wif said. “Some of the first customers I had have passed away, but I had a good relationship with so many people over the years that it was nice to see them all again.”Glad-handing and meeting people at a celebration like this is normal for Wif, as he participated in tons of parades, church fairs and other local events around central Minnesota over the years.“Everyone knew me by my first name, like a politician,” Wif noted.Wif Finken, founder, speaks with customers during the celebration.As Finken continues to move into the future, Wif is glad Tom is handling things.“You have to keep pushing forward,” Wif emphasized. “Standing still is like moving backwards; you never want to get to relaxed or complacent. It’s important to treat every customer like they’re your only customer.”One way Finken continues to move forward is by making sure customers have access to the best, most convenient facilities. That's why the Albertville and Osseo stores will be merging into one store, located in Brooklyn Park! The new Brooklyn Park location will officially open on Dec. 5, 2016. The new location will have a large showroom and warehouse, and both delivery drivers and service technicians will be based out of it, serving an area including the Albertville and Osseo areas and more! The Brooklyn Park building is located off of County Road 81/Bottineau Boulevard.Finken employee, Matt Stahlmann, making balloon animals for the kids.A sign denotes the 55th anniversary celebration held at the Melrose location.Wif said one of the biggest challenges facing Finken as the company moves forward will be finding skilled employees. He said skilled tradespeople are in shorter supply now than ever, and finding those with a positive attitude and the right motivation to treat every customer with Finken-level service is also a challenge.Finken water is currently on it’s third generation of Finken family members. Besides Wif and Tom, two of Wif’s grandchildren (of his daughter, Sharon Blaskowski) are involved as well. Chris Blaskowski is a manager of Finken Water Solutions, and Mike Blaskowski is a manager of Finken Plumbing, Heating and Cooling.“I think it will stay in the family, as we’ve established so many relationships and a strong reputation,” Wif said.Wif added, “It’s been wonderful to work with so many people in the community over all these years. I hope Finken Water continues to be able to serve the area for a long time to come.”