In the 1930’s Howard Petersen was a plumber’s apprentice, moonlighting as a race car driver. This was back in the days of open cockpits in racing and lead pipe in plumbing. After serving in World War Two as a pipe fitter, Howard came home to work for a series of small plumbing shops. In 1947, Howard and his brother George made a decision to strike out on their own. They bought out Bill Mack and opened a small shop on West 3rd Street in Davenport. It was 1947 and the company vehicle was one very used 1934 Dodge panel truck. Petersen now owns 50 separate company vehicles. That does not include seven backhoes and other pieces of equipment. Today, that tiny two-man operation can have nearly 100 persons on the payroll at different times of the year depending on the projects involved.