Duane Kaczmarek
Integrity is more than
just a word to Duane. It’s how he lives his life and how he treats his
customers.
Because of his high ideals, Kaczmarek
started Apple Tax and Accounting Service in the basement of his Apple
Valley home in January 1986. Since 1981 Kaczmarek had been in the private
accounting business part time while he held another full-time job. But
when his circumstances changed with his full-time employer, Kaczmarek
decided to venture out on his own on a full-time basis.
“It was a dream of mine, wanting to go out on my own,” he said.
Following his graduation from Silver Lake
High School in 1962, Kaczmarek took a two-year course in business and
accounting at Minneapolis Business College. After a four-year stint in
the U.S. Navy, he took night classes in accounting and business at the
University of Minnesota.
Kaczmarek also learned from hands-on
experience, not only with employers, but as far back as his childhood,
working with his dad on a dairy farm. According to Kaczmarek, his dad
used to generate the milk checks for the local farmers, which originally
got young Kaczmarek interested in accounting. He remembers his dad’s old
adding machine, which had the handle a person had to pull to get the
machine to total up the figures.
“I always loved numbers, working with
figures,” Kaczmarek said.
Today, he’s doing just that. While Apple
Tax and Accounting Service started in Apple Valley, for the last twelve
years it’s been located in Rosemount. Most recently the Kaczmarek
family moved to 13094 Danube Lane where the office resides in the lower
level of
the home. The space works well for Kaczmarek and his full-service
tax and accounting business, particularly because of the long hours he
puts in.
“I’ve always had the philosophy that the
office is open from 7 in the morning until 8 or 9 in the evening,” he
said. “I’m willing to go the extra mile for a client.”
During the tax season it’s not unusual for
Kaczmarek to work 100 hours a week. In fact, his hours don’t dwindle too
far below that during the rest of the year either.
“I enjoy working 60 or 70 hours a week
during the off-season,” he said, adding that his extended daytime hours
also serve to accommodate his clients’ schedules. “People are so busy
these days, you need to be compassionate to their hours.”
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the family business full-time as a Senior Account
Executive. Together they’ve created a powerfull
father/daughter team. As
a small, family-owned and operated business, Duane and Sara know firsthand
the challenges facing small businesses and corporations. Today, they
service more than 50 small businesses, over 600 personal tax clients and
over 200 corporations.