Look at businesses and homes throughout Austin and you'll see the work of the Austin Awning Co. everywhere. At Neveln Elementary, at Sumner Elementary, at the Mower County Red Cross and many private homes, you'll see what the company is capable of doing.

But Austin Awning is more than just awnings. Not only do they also do many other services, but they're a third-generation company that's been in Austin since 1939.

Owner Marc Hammero says his grandfather, Erling Hammero, came to Austin in the late-1930s and, with a summer of experience at an awning business in Maine, decided to start his own company.

"At first it was just in his garage and he would take other jobs. He drove cab and worked at Hormel's during the war because you couldn't buy canvas then," Hammero says.

In 1952, Hammero's grandfather moved the business to its current location at 1208 Fourth St. SE and "turned it into a full-fledged business."

Since then, the company has expanded and Hammero's father, Ernest Hammero, who passed the company on to Marc in 1998, says in addition to house and commercial awnings, they "do a lot of auto trim, boat covers, seat work, tents, canvas repairs of all types."

Marc says that out of everything the company does, "I enjoy the auto upholstery the most. I own a few antique cars myself, so I have a really personal interest in that."

People come from all over Iowa and Minnesota with cars of all makes and models for Marc to restore the interior.

"I've worked on … a 1909 Cadillac, a 1916 Studebaker, Model As, Model Ts, Jaguars, Rolls Royces, antique Mack Trucks, Lincolns," he says.

For many cars, upholstery kits are available, which is convenient, but Hammero says he really enjoys restoring the interiors of cars that don't have kits available because of the creativity and the challenge. "We do research and usually there's something left so we dissect that a little bit … people will bring in magazine pictures and drawings," he says.

Marc's wife, Pam, works in the office and says she's known all three Hammero men involved with the business and is proud to be part of the company with them. "They had a lot of individual differences, yet there were also a lot of consistencies and those are they're hard working, really good folks," she says. "It's not a big business; it's a nice family business. We know what our CEO does with our money."

The company has always been very community-oriented. Pam says she was once told Erling "would go downtown to crank open the awnings every morning and crank the awnings shut every evening to help businesses open and close. I always thought that was really neat."

The Hammeros and many of their family members also have hung the inside and outside decorations at the Mower County Fair every year since the 1960s and it's become a family tradition that everyone looks forward to doing.

"There's a really strong work ethic and that's fun to be a part of," Pam says.

For more information about the Austin Awning Co., call 433-5600.

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at :mailto:amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com