Terpstra Family Invests in Community Values with New Culver’s Franchise

Dec. 23, 2013 - PRLog -- Fred Terpstra, a local Culver’s franchise owner with restaurantsin Merrillville, Highland and Lansing, having received permission from the Crown Point Plan Commission, is building his newest Culver’s restaurant in the Crown Village commercial development on the northwest corner of Summit Street and Broadway in Crown Point.

The Terpstra family has been doing business in Northwest Indiana since 1946, when Fred Terpstra’s father, John W. Terpstra along with Peter Groot, opened Highland Department Store in Downtown Highland. It became the second largest independently owned department store in the Mid-west behind Rogers Department Store in Grand Rapid, MI.  Fred worked with his father there for 25 years before the store was sold in 1992. 2006 marked the beginning of the Terpstra family’s involvement with Culver’s restaurants.

“Like Craig Culver, the Co-Founder of Culver’s, the Terpstra family name stands for loyalty and honesty in our personal lives as well as in our business lives,” said Fred Terpstra. “Our commitment to family values, our restaurant team members and the community drives every decision we make, and it’s our mission to carry that through each of our businesses in Northwest Indiana. I would agree with Craig Culver when he says that what was right then, is right now.  We still believe in those values that began for our family in 1946.”

To build the new Culver’s restaurant, Terpstra has hired union carpenters who are members of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC). “The IKORCC is all about family and community. Because the Terpstra family shares those values, working with the union carpenters is a natural fit for us. Not only are we supporting local tradesmen and women, but we are hiring trustworthy and hard-working individuals at a competitive price who are in turn able to support their families and pour back into our local economy,” said Terpstra. “In addition, the Union carpenters represent a skill set that’s really impressive – they are highly professional, skilled craftspeople. Their work site is always clean; they work through any weather conditions and can often finish the job ahead of schedule. I’m consistently impressed with their level of professionalism and the quality of the work.”

Scott Cooley, IKORCC Sr. Representative, commented, “Fred Terpstra and the entire Terpstra family represent the kind of entrepreneur that the IKORCC is proud to work with. Their heart for community is refreshing, and we know that when we support a Terpstra owned business like the new Crown Point Culver’s, we are essentially giving back to our own community and our own families.”

The construction of the new Culver’s restaurant began in October of 2013 and is scheduled to be open for business on January 20, 2014. For employment opportunities at the Culver’s in Crown Point, please visit the Merrillville Culver’s.

The Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters represents more than 32,000 professional tradespeople in 43 locals in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and parts of West Virginia and Tennessee. A proud affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, which has a century-plus tradition of representing the best of the building trades, the council works in partnership with more than 30,000 contractors, helping them find the best possible talent for their projects. The hallmark of the regional council is three-fold: training, professionalism and partnerships for economic development.