Editor's note: This week marks the debut of "Business View," a regular column that will focus on Wauwatosa businesses and the people who run them.
For more than 15 years, Steve Culver and Sally Heuer have built up their successful computer business, Computer 911 - first as a help desk for personal computer users and today as a sort of IT department for businesses and consumers.
As the married couple and their eight employees ensure that clients have the right hardware and software needed to fight various virus threats that come at them every day, the business has steadily grown.
Culver and Heuer have expanded three times, moving out of their home and then into various commercial buildings in the Blue Mound Road area of western Wauwatosa.
In May, they took the advice of their accountant and bought a building at 11127 W. Blue Mound Road. Built in 1954 as a single-family home, the 2,400-square-foot building was most recently an insurance agent's office.
A unique solution
As part of a buildout to make the space suitable for Computer 911, Culver and Heuer wanted to tackle a drainage problem on the property. Heuer had attended a city Engineering Department seminar on rain gardens, and the couple decided this would be a good way to help keep the building's basement dry.
"The property has a lot of extra space, so it's just perfect because the idea of a rain garden is to catch runoff from roofs, parking lots and sidewalks - most of the hard surfaces you get in the city," Heuer said. "With a rain garden, there is less water going into storm sewers and ultimately into Lake Michigan and other places it shouldn't be."
The city supports this for businesses and homes through its Rain Gardens for Wauwatosa program. Property owners who meet requirements can get a grant of up to $800 to build the garden. The money came from two grants the city received because of its challenges with runoff and flooding.
"A couple of city engineers came out and because of our L-shaped property, suggested a larger rain garden directly behind our building to the south and then a strip next to the building, just south of the parking lot," Heuer said. "There are calculations to be done based on the amount of runoff, the size of your parking lot and size of your roof. It was decided that for the size for our property it would total about 500 square feet."
Clay in soil an issue
Because much of the soil in Wauwatosa contains a lot of clay, Heuer said they dug down about 2 feet to accommodate high-quality top soil they mixed with compost from the city's recycling center to help the plants thrive.
Heuer said the plants they chose were from a list of native foliage provided by the city and were selected because they would do well in the clay-based soil and direct sunlight. They include box hedge, black-eyed Susan, Indian grass, asters, Ironweed and red milk weed.
"It's a real variety of plants. We also used one called Culver's root, and Steve Culver is the president of the company, so we had to have that," Heuer joked.
She said they used native prairie plants because they hold up well and are heartier. They have deep root systems and are better at retaining water.
"In fact, this fall we had some really heavy rain, so it was fun to look out at the garden, see the water coming out and see it reach 6 inches or so, and then gradually recede throughout the day. They're pretty. We chose a variety of colors and a variety of heights for visual interest," she said.
So far, so good
Culver and Heuer are pleased with the way the garden has turned out.
"We got it planted in August and they had to approve it by the second week in September. It looked really good and I'm looking forward to seeing it in May and how the plants wintered," she said, adding that her employees enjoy it, too, as they get outside and have a couple of gardens to look at.
Robert Warde is a freelance business writer living in Wauwatosa. He has been a business journalist for the past 15 years. Reach him at robert.warde@yahoo.com.
FYI
WHAT: Computer 911
WHERE: 11127 W. Blue Mound Road
HOURS: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays; 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays
CONTACT: (414) 278-7911 (tours of the garden can be scheduled)
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