Salute to a
Customer
Fishing trip leads to change in ownership for Kemper Construction Company Inc., high-quality work remains
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Steve Farden has a whopper of a true fishing tale. “We already had our own business, Farden Construction Inc., and over the years we did a lot of work with Kemper Construction Company Inc.,” recalled Steve. “The owner, George Kemper, invited me to fish in Canada. Turns out, it was an interview. He was looking to sell Kemper Construction, and he wanted me to buy it. We decided to make the deal in a cabin in northern Ontario.”
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They sealed the deal in 2013, and since then, Steve has been leading both North Dakota-based companies. Kemper Construction is headquartered in Minot and focuses on heavy municipal underground with an emphasis on sewer and water installation for cities in North Dakota. Maxbass-based Farden Construction, which was founded in the 1930s by Steve’s grandfather as a house-moving company, became an oilfield service business and now provides general earthwork and crushing services. “It really was a good marriage of the two,” said Steve. “We needed to get more people involved in underground, and the best way to do that was to buy an established business like Kemper Construction. It has a very long history – since 1905 – with name recognition, so we decided it was best to keep it as a separate entity from Farden Construction.”
(L-R) Teralyn and Steve Farden are part of the ownership/management team at Kemper Construction, which mainly performs underground utility work throughout North Dakota.
He added that he also thought it was best not to be Kemper Construction’s sole owner. Steve teamed up with his brother Todd — who is also a third-generation owner of Farden Construction and runs its crushing operations — as well as Scott Thompson and Terry Hall. “There is a lot of experience here, and we have all worked together for a long time,” said Steve. “We are not big on titles. It’s about getting the job done and accomplishing things that others may not be able to do that drives us. In addition to us, there are some great people on staff such as Duane Haugen, Jordan Brown and Rodney Houle. My wife, Teralyn, has also been instrumental in our success and is basically our CFO/comptroller.”
With a staff of about a dozen employees, Kemper Construction is not a big company, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in experience, according to Steve. “It was a huge help that the purchase included a staff of gentlemen who knew how to get the job done and stayed with us,” Steve emphasized. “Many of them are still on board, and George is even still involved in helping with project management. We run a couple of crews who do a limited number of sizable projects each year. We made a conscious decision not to get bigger and stay specialized.”
Old and new methods
Steve said a current project for the city of Bottineau is a perfect example of the kind of work Kemper Construction has completed during its nearly 120 years of operation.
“We’re doing an underground replacement of water main that started with pavement removal,” explained Steve. “We put in temporary water service and installed new lines. There are a lot of old pipes in North Dakota, so jobs like this remain a big part of our workload.”
Steve added, “Kemper Construction also performs pipe bursting, which George started doing in the late 1990s. It involves setting up a machine, pulling a tool through old pipe, breaking it out of the way, and then pulling in brand new lines. The advantage is that you don’t tear up streets, so the impact to the city is reduced. It turned into a vital part of the business and
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