BUTLER — It’s currently covered in construction dust but Iron Hero’s Gym will open later by mid-May or June 1 at 527 W. Main St., Butler.
Owner and veteran Rudy Corpus, who is an assistant wrestling coach at Defiance College, opened his first Iron Hero’s Gym in Delta, Ohio, and was looking for a place closer to the Indiana-Ohio border for his second location.
“I’m a veteran. I served six years in the Air Force, and I’ve always wanted to open up my own gym,” Corpus said. He has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.
“I did body building for 10 years. When we had the opportunity in Delta to do so, we saved up some money, bought some equipment, and from there, we’ve grown.
“We’re proud to be a veteran-owned business. We promote that a lot and have a lot of discounts for veterans and their families,” he said. “That’s big for us.”
Corpus said a smaller community was key to the business plan.
“We did the model in Delta. It worked out really great because you had to drive 20-25 minutes to get to the nearest gym, so a lot of the locals stayed locally,” he explained. “We know the closest gym around here is a still little bit of a-ways, 15-20 minutes.
“We find that people in smaller towns tend to support local business. The demographic is nice because there’s a huge industrial park not far from here,” Corpus continued. “We figure the customer base is here. We just have to tap into it.
“We’re a full commercial gym so we have everything that you would need — free weights, strength equipment, cardio equipment, TVs — everything you could possibly think of.
“Me and my wife both did competitive power lifting and body building for 10 years, and that’s what we built our gym around,” he said. “What could you possibly need in your fitness regimen that help you get to your fitness goals, that’s what we put in our first gym.
“That’s what we’re going to do here.”
In Delta, Iron Hero’s offers consultation for personal training as well as programs for veterans, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, first responders and their families.
The Butler gym is 2,200 square feet. While a little smaller than what they had envisioned, Corpus said the Butler location will have several dual equipment stations.
“We’ll still be able to offer all the full commercial equipment you would be able to get at a larger gym, so nothing will be skipped out,” Corpus said.
Iron Hero’s will be open 24 hours, seven days a week.
“There will be a key fob system and security cameras. The way we do (in Delta) is that you can sign up online,” Corpus explained. “We have a box that sits outside the wall where you get a one-time code once you sign up. That one-time code, you’re allowed to type into this box and it gives you a key fob.
“We don’t want to do that at first — we want to meet the customers, the prospective people who want to join this gym,” he said. “We’ll continue to be 24/7 from day 1.
“That’s important to us. Whether you’re working nights, mornings or afternoons, this is going to be around and available any time you need it.”
The Delta gym offers corporate fitness programs for employees, and Corpus hopes there is interest for similar programs at the Butler location.
“The first thing we want to do is get this opened up and running, making sure it’s going smoothly. That’s the next step after that.”
For more information, people can visit ironherosgym.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/ironherosgym/.