FAIRFIELD – Two Fairfield High School grads have gone into business together to open a 24-hour gym.

Colton Burnett and Cohyn Roach are two home-grown entrepreneurs who opened a gym called Raise the Bar at 2103 W. Burlington Ave., the new building on the west side of Fairfield that also houses U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile. They opened the gym on Black Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, and have gotten more than 100 memberships in just over two months.

“A lot of people were very excited even before we opened,” Burnett said. “So far, everybody seems to love and enjoy it. They like that they can come and go whenever they want. They also enjoy how clean we try to keep it.”

Burnett and Roach are both Fairfield graduates but they’re five years apart so were not in high school at the same time, with Burnett graduating in 2016 and Roach graduating in 2021. After high school, Roach worked in construction and Burnett was self-employed in several lines of work such as property management, flipping houses, running Airbnbs in the Ozarks, and he has 30 cows and a couple hundred acres of hay. Burnett said he’s going to stick with some of those side jobs except the Airbnbs, which he has sold off.

Each of them dreamed of opening a gym, but they didn’t want to take on the responsibility alone. Burnett’s wife is related to Roach, and through a family member, Burnett got to know that Roach wanted to open a gym just like he did.

“I’ve thought about it since I graduated,” Roach said. “I was lifting at the rec, and I felt that a 24-hour gym would be very useful. [Burnett] was the one who had the ideas to pull it off.”

“I was thinking about it for probably a year,” Burnett said. “I knew that with everything else I have going on, I needed a partner on it. I ran the numbers a bunch of times, so I thought it could work, but I didn’t think I could do it by myself.”

Burnett said there were not many rental spots available in Fairfield, and they quickly settled on the space at 2103 W. Burlington. They looked at the property in July when the interior was only partially finished, and did not have drywall. The landlord finished the inside, and Burnett and Roach installed the flooring and built a front desk.

It’s proven to be the perfect size, since it’s large enough to accommodate 28 machines and work-out stations. Burnett and Roach said they were able to find good deals on used equipment, and they’ve had to purchase new equipment, too, such as new plates and dumbbells.

“We worked with companies that specialize in used equipment,” Burnett said. “They really helped us out to find everything we needed, in the specific brands we wanted to get.”

The work-out stations include treadmills, bench presses, squat racks, leg presses and more. The dumbbells go up to 125 pounds.

“We’ve tried to cover all the bases,” Burnett said.

Members receive a key fob to access the gym at any hour of the day, and there’s also an app where they can gain access to the building through their phone. Roach said the busiest times of the day are after work between 5-9 p.m., and early in the morning before 7 a.m. Burnett said even the 4-5 a.m. slot draws a nice crowd.

“The people who have to get to work early, this benefits them a lot,” Burnett said.

“People are really using that 24-hour access to their advantage,” Roach said.