Hardin County Tire Helps Drive Rural Iowa
posted on Friday, February 21, 2020
What’s the most important safety feature on your vehicle? It may not be what you’d expect. “Your tires are one of the most important parts of your car or truck, even though they’re easy to overlook,” said Denny Barrick, owner of Hardin County Tire in Iowa Falls.
Don’t forget motor oil, either. “It’s the lifeblood of your engine, and there’s no cheaper or easier way to care for your vehicle than to replace the oil regularly,” Barrick added.
Dependable advice, reliable service and fair prices keep people coming back to Hardin County Tire for tire repairs, oil changes, on-farm tire service and more for their cars, trucks, SUVs, lawn and garden equipment, tractors and other vehicles.
“Done right the first time, friendly and helpful,” and “Local service by people you know,” are among the customer comments that pop up from online searches for Hardin County Tire. Drop by the shop on South Oak Street and you’ll meet people who are customers for life.
Barrick and his team won’t sell a new set of tires, for example, without asking some key questions about driving habits. Barrick said, “I want to help people fit the right solutions for their needs.”
Among Barrick’s long-time customers is Iowa Select Farms, as the company’s founder grew up raising pigs near Iowa Falls. “I remember Jeff Hansen telling me his goal was to sell 20 semi-loads of pigs a week,” Barrick said. “I thought that was pretty ambitious, but look where he’s at today.”
Barrick knows big opportunities can come from small beginnings. After studying farm management at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC), the Hampton native began working at Hanson Tire in Hampton. “The owner took me under his wing,” said Barrick, who worked there 10 years.
When Barrick had a chance to buy an existing tire shop in Iowa Falls in 1987, he made his move, undaunted that the interest rate to buy the tire shop was 17 percent and the interest rate to buy the equipment was a whopping 21 percent in those farm crisis days.
Barrick credits skilled employees, trusted brands like Goodyear® tires and high-quality service for helping his business grow. Today, Hardin County Tire in Iowa Falls has nine employees, plus Barrick, and in June 2019, he opened a second location in Radcliffe, which his son Jason operates.
“Like Iowa Select Farms, we’re family-run businesses focused on rural Iowa,” said Barrick, a 32-year veteran of the volunteer fire service and first assistant chief of the Iowa Falls Fire Department. “I’m always impressed by Iowa Select’s generous contributions to first responders and other local organizations.”
Hardin County Tire is proud to support Iowa’s livestock industry. “I’d hate to think where Iowa’s economy would be without livestock,” Barrick said. “Agriculture and livestock production mean jobs and money that trickles down to other local businesses like feed mills, ethanol plants, my tire shop, the grocery store and many other businesses that benefit our communities.”
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