Community Profile: Lynch Brothers Custom Fence and Deck

Today, Jarrod Lynch may be the head of a Mendota Heights landscaping company, but that’s a long way from where he started off.

“I got into this business after burning out working in advertising,” he explained.

For several years, Lynch traveled the country, training technicians and operators to install fancy-looking billboards in sports stadiums—the ones that rotate, showcasing different ads every few seconds. It paid well enough, but eventually the pace of work got too much.

“It became very tough to set my feet up for any period of time,” he said. “I would sometimes travel to four cities in five days. It became a grind.”

At his wit’s end, he decided to sign on as a “grunt” with a friend in St. Paul, who owned a fence contracting company. Lynch dug holes, mixed cement, and “busted rock at Leavenworth”—as he and his coworkers called it—for eight years, learning all aspects of the business inside and out.

When the housing market started to falter in 2006 and his friend’s business dried up, Lynch parted ways with the firm. For a time, he tried to find an office job with several Twin Cities companies, but never met with any success until he decided to pick up all the skills and knowledge he’d learned as a “grunt” again and apply them to designing and building decks and remolding projects for Mendota Heights residents. He founded Lynch Brothers Custom Fence and Deck and hasn’t looked back since.

“It was difficult at first due to the economy and housing downturn but I was able to weather the storm and things are on the uptick,” Lynch said. “I feel homeowners are putting money into their existing homes rather than looking to move or sell their homes.”