FC baseball players giving back to the community
July 6, 2021 at 8:45 p.m.
FC baseball players giving back to the community
By Will Fehlinger-
Two recent grads from the Franklin County High School baseball program – and another fellow classmate – are burgeoning entrepreneurs and began on that track long before commencement exercises.
Garrett Ertel, also a varsity football and basketball player, started working concrete jobs for Fohl Construction during his freshman year and latched on with G2 Construction (concrete) full-time early in his senior year. He also hauls gravel and does driveways.
Teammate Joe Fields will head to Bluffton University later this summer to play ball, but not before gaining experience in concrete, flooring, carpentry and farming.
Both young enterprising men run small businesses and are looking at expansion in the coming years.
Fields and Brady Lee have operated OCD Work Company since May 2020, offering mowing, landscaping, hedge trimming, edging, pressure washing and deck/fence staining. Early this year, Ertel took over InTents Events from previous owner Ryan Bischoff; the operation specializes in renting out large tents, lighting and bounce houses for outside celebrations.
“Mom called one day after seeing it on Facebook,” says Garrett, son of Rick and Renee Ertel. “I knew I’d be sticking around town pouring concrete for G2, so I decided to go into it.”
The OCD name came about due to the need for precision.
“You don’t want to mess up a front yard,” Joe explains. “It takes concentration and checking everything twice to make sure it’s the best yard it can be every time.”
“You can’t undo what you just did,” adds Lee, son of Jamie and Brooke Lee.
Joe’s parents are Kate and Steve Fields, the latter being “pretty much our CEO/co-owner at this point,” according to Joe.
“He lets us use his zero-turn mower and he’ll buy stuff … we’ll pay him back when we get the money,” says Joe. “He and my brother are handy mechanics, so we don’t have to worry about any shop fees. He’ll order signs and truck stickers for us.”
Lee adds “he’s probably more invested in it than we are.”
Mr. Fields helps them with finances and some networking as well.
“We have (dad’s) Duke Energy warehouse in Fairfield that we mow and there are six or seven of his work friends in a neighborhood there,” Joe notes.
“We’ll go out there for one full day.” The duo estimates 20 more yards around Brookville and Oxford, Ohio.
The guys were in unison when saying none of this would be possible without their parents.
“My dad is helping me a lot,” says Garrett, who gets additional help from brothers Braydon and Brant. “There was a big startup fee, but I’ve already paid (them) back.”
Ertel manages InTents Events through Facebook, carefully logging his bookings into a datebook. He’ll then contact the customer a week before an event.
“I have seven tents and last weekend, every single tent was out,” he adds, as graduations and weddings peaked. “I have to manage when and how fast we’re putting them up. We set up Thursday and take down on Sunday; that Thursday, I was out until 1 a.m.”
The OCD group rarely takes time off and has just occasional help.
“We work sunup to sundown, for 14 hours most days,” says Lee. “It’s only us so no one else will do it if we don’t.”
Teachers or coaches could end up playing second fiddle.
“Sometimes, we’d take the morning off school to do some work,” reveals Joe.
“(Brady) was doing online and I was still at school, so he’d run around to make ends meet, whatever we’ve got to do. Some Friday nights, we’d be out till about 10 mowing.”
“I’ve also skipped school,” says Garrett with a grin. “It’s working seven days a week and not much time to hang out with friends. Tents have to dry out so you can’t start till about 10; if you can do some stuff at night, you set that aside and do daylight stuff.”
FC baseball coach Derek Stang was understanding of their obligations.
“The coaches knew if we had to work, we had to work,” says Joe. “I had only a couple practices when I’d leave early or was late. Sometimes I’d go to the gym at midnight.”
Where did the strong work ethics come from?
Garrett credits his father, along with late grandfathers Herschel Ertel and Fred Rudisell.
“Dad would keep working on cars after coming home (from the auto shop),” he says. “Saturday mornings when I was little, I’d help him with whatever he was doing.”
“My dad would come home after a 12-hour shift, work another eight hours and barely sleep,” Brady adds. “You just work as much and as long as you can and sacrifice wherever else.”
Joe sees his grandpa Steve Fields Jr. “with his body beat down” from a lifetime of farming and running a trucking business.
“As soon as I saw that, I thought I should work that hard and walk like him when I get older … seems like a sign of success,” he remarks.
Ertel faces a few challenges with his business, namely making sure tents stay upright and clean and finding some extra help.
“Rain kills,” he says. “If it rains Thursday and Friday, we still have to set up, so customers have plenty of time to decorate or whatever. You want them to talk about how nice the tents look.”
InTents has a set fee for tent rentals and a mileage fee, which means Ertel’s up for traveling just about anywhere.
“It’s a pretty good side gig,” he adds.
OCD offers free quotes through OCD Work Company on Facebook. Mowing quotes are hourly and landscaping jobs a flat rate.
“I’m sure several jobs we underquoted very heavily last year, but we’re starting to understand what to spend, how much to spend … what’s a good investment, what’s not,” states Joe. “We understood this year, we had to get new equipment. We’ve probably made that money back and more because the new equipment saves time.”
Gasoline is a hefty expense these days, as Lee guesses they spend about $300 a week on fuel.
It’s onward for both young outfits.
“You have to invest in your own company,” says Garrett. “I’d like to get into tables and chairs because people are always asking about that, enough to seat about 200. Also, we have two trailers and dad’s building a barn just for all my stuff.”
Lee and Fields are thinking even longer-term.
“We want a larger corporation with several employees, not just a local business,” says Brady.
“We’re going to register as an LLC soon and we recently got insured,” adds Joe. “We’re both studying business (Brady at IU East), so he’ll work when he doesn’t have school and I’ll work as much as I can. Eventually, we’ll get a lot with a shop and gates to keep everything there.
“We’d like to carry this on throughout our lives.”
Beyond Facebook, Fields can be reached at 513-502-8701 and Ertel at 513-516-0501.
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Two recent grads from the Franklin County High School baseball program – and another fellow classmate – are burgeoning entrepreneurs and began on that track long before commencement exercises.
Garrett Ertel, also a varsity football and basketball player, started working concrete jobs for Fohl Construction during his freshman year and latched on with G2 Construction (concrete) full-time early in his senior year. He also hauls gravel and does driveways.
Teammate Joe Fields will head to Bluffton University later this summer to play ball, but not before gaining experience in concrete, flooring, carpentry and farming.
Both young enterprising men run small businesses and are looking at expansion in the coming years.
Fields and Brady Lee have operated OCD Work Company since May 2020, offering mowing, landscaping, hedge trimming, edging, pressure washing and deck/fence staining. Early this year, Ertel took over InTents Events from previous owner Ryan Bischoff; the operation specializes in renting out large tents, lighting and bounce houses for outside celebrations.
“Mom called one day after seeing it on Facebook,” says Garrett, son of Rick and Renee Ertel. “I knew I’d be sticking around town pouring concrete for G2, so I decided to go into it.”
The OCD name came about due to the need for precision.
“You don’t want to mess up a front yard,” Joe explains. “It takes concentration and checking everything twice to make sure it’s the best yard it can be every time.”
“You can’t undo what you just did,” adds Lee, son of Jamie and Brooke Lee.
Joe’s parents are Kate and Steve Fields, the latter being “pretty much our CEO/co-owner at this point,” according to Joe.
“He lets us use his zero-turn mower and he’ll buy stuff … we’ll pay him back when we get the money,” says Joe. “He and my brother are handy mechanics, so we don’t have to worry about any shop fees. He’ll order signs and truck stickers for us.”
Lee adds “he’s probably more invested in it than we are.”
Mr. Fields helps them with finances and some networking as well.
“We have (dad’s) Duke Energy warehouse in Fairfield that we mow and there are six or seven of his work friends in a neighborhood there,” Joe notes.
“We’ll go out there for one full day.” The duo estimates 20 more yards around Brookville and Oxford, Ohio.
The guys were in unison when saying none of this would be possible without their parents.
“My dad is helping me a lot,” says Garrett, who gets additional help from brothers Braydon and Brant. “There was a big startup fee, but I’ve already paid (them) back.”
Ertel manages InTents Events through Facebook, carefully logging his bookings into a datebook. He’ll then contact the customer a week before an event.
“I have seven tents and last weekend, every single tent was out,” he adds, as graduations and weddings peaked. “I have to manage when and how fast we’re putting them up. We set up Thursday and take down on Sunday; that Thursday, I was out until 1 a.m.”
The OCD group rarely takes time off and has just occasional help.
“We work sunup to sundown, for 14 hours most days,” says Lee. “It’s only us so no one else will do it if we don’t.”
Teachers or coaches could end up playing second fiddle.
“Sometimes, we’d take the morning off school to do some work,” reveals Joe.
“(Brady) was doing online and I was still at school, so he’d run around to make ends meet, whatever we’ve got to do. Some Friday nights, we’d be out till about 10 mowing.”
“I’ve also skipped school,” says Garrett with a grin. “It’s working seven days a week and not much time to hang out with friends. Tents have to dry out so you can’t start till about 10; if you can do some stuff at night, you set that aside and do daylight stuff.”
FC baseball coach Derek Stang was understanding of their obligations.
“The coaches knew if we had to work, we had to work,” says Joe. “I had only a couple practices when I’d leave early or was late. Sometimes I’d go to the gym at midnight.”
Where did the strong work ethics come from?
Garrett credits his father, along with late grandfathers Herschel Ertel and Fred Rudisell.
“Dad would keep working on cars after coming home (from the auto shop),” he says. “Saturday mornings when I was little, I’d help him with whatever he was doing.”
“My dad would come home after a 12-hour shift, work another eight hours and barely sleep,” Brady adds. “You just work as much and as long as you can and sacrifice wherever else.”
Joe sees his grandpa Steve Fields Jr. “with his body beat down” from a lifetime of farming and running a trucking business.
“As soon as I saw that, I thought I should work that hard and walk like him when I get older … seems like a sign of success,” he remarks.
Ertel faces a few challenges with his business, namely making sure tents stay upright and clean and finding some extra help.
“Rain kills,” he says. “If it rains Thursday and Friday, we still have to set up, so customers have plenty of time to decorate or whatever. You want them to talk about how nice the tents look.”
InTents has a set fee for tent rentals and a mileage fee, which means Ertel’s up for traveling just about anywhere.
“It’s a pretty good side gig,” he adds.
OCD offers free quotes through OCD Work Company on Facebook. Mowing quotes are hourly and landscaping jobs a flat rate.
“I’m sure several jobs we underquoted very heavily last year, but we’re starting to understand what to spend, how much to spend … what’s a good investment, what’s not,” states Joe. “We understood this year, we had to get new equipment. We’ve probably made that money back and more because the new equipment saves time.”
Gasoline is a hefty expense these days, as Lee guesses they spend about $300 a week on fuel.
It’s onward for both young outfits.
“You have to invest in your own company,” says Garrett. “I’d like to get into tables and chairs because people are always asking about that, enough to seat about 200. Also, we have two trailers and dad’s building a barn just for all my stuff.”
Lee and Fields are thinking even longer-term.
“We want a larger corporation with several employees, not just a local business,” says Brady.
“We’re going to register as an LLC soon and we recently got insured,” adds Joe. “We’re both studying business (Brady at IU East), so he’ll work when he doesn’t have school and I’ll work as much as I can. Eventually, we’ll get a lot with a shop and gates to keep everything there.
“We’d like to carry this on throughout our lives.”
Beyond Facebook, Fields can be reached at 513-502-8701 and Ertel at 513-516-0501.
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