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HANCOCK - For Harrington Ridge Coal and Stoves owners Dave Peterson and Matt Arko, the last two years have certainly been busy. They are averaging a new business venture every four to five months, and because of hard work and smart decisions, they have progressed well.

"One thing led to another," Matt Arko said.

"It just kind of happened, we got into the stoves because we needed them," Dave Peterson added. "Then we got into trucking because we needed coal for our stove and then we needed to repair the trucks so we opened a repair shop."

Inside of their office the duo sells stoves, runs a trucking company, runs a land assessment company, rents out a beach house, does land sales and excavation, and runs an auto-repair shop.

"All just things we couldn't do locally," Peterson said. "So we had to do it ourselves."

All the ventures may sound like a bit much, but with the additional business, has come the addition of employees. They now have 10 total employees, Peterson said.

Their employees all have their own specialties, including a couple of experienced mechanics who run Bridgeview Repair, an auto-repair shop that can do work on any kind of engine, from a go-kart to a full-size semi.

They have two full-time truck drivers who drive from the Copper Country to Pennsylvania to pick up coal for their stoves and a couple office assistants who keep everything in order.

Though they have all of the different lines of work, none has really taken control of their time.

"They've all become pretty much equal," Arko said. "Some days the whole day is the trucking, another it will be assessment."

Through last August and September it was mostly a moving company. The entire show got packed up and moved to their new location in Hancock.

"We love the new location," Peterson said of their new office and auto-repair shop located on M-26 in Hancock.

"It's a lot more convenient and visible," Arko added.

The building they now reside in is just east of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge in Hancock, in the old Krist Oil building. They've torn it apart and brought back many of the original features of the building and have made it into their everything office.

"A lot of people don't know we exist," Akro said. "It's been nice being here in Hancock."

To learn more, call 482-0145.

Michael H. Babcock can be reached at mbabcock@mininggazette.com.