7 minute read
Kemper Construction Company Inc.
Fishing trip leads to change in ownership for Kemper Construction Company Inc., high-quality work remains
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.”
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.”
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 really distinguished Kemper Construction from other companies.”
Steve estimated that the two methods were evenly split among Kemper Construction’s projects in 2023.
“It varies year to year, depending on what municipalities are planning,” noted Steve. “It looks like 2024 could be heavily weighted toward bursting jobs.”
Operators want Komatsu excavators
Hanging on the walls of Kemper Construction’s office in Minot are a vast number of historical photos that include projects the company completed with horse-drawn carts, as well as steam-powered shovels, trenchers and draglines.
“It was a different world then,” proclaimed Steve. “Things have obviously changed a lot. We use the most modern equipment today, including Komatsu excavators, which Kemper’s operators who stayed on recommended because they had been using them for so long and liked the power and production they were getting. We inherited some when we bought Kemper and have added more over the years.”
Kemper Construction’s Komatsu excavators range from a 68-horsepower PC88MR to 362-horsepower PC400 models.
“Each job is different, and you need to be able to do all aspects of underground projects with the right tools for the job to be most effective,” said Steve. “Every one of them gives us good performance. The PC88 is great for smaller installs and working in streets and around obstacles. As the trenches and pipe get bigger and deeper, the larger excavators are extremely effective and productive.”
Kemper Construction acquired its Komatsu excavators from General Equipment & Supplies Inc. and worked directly with sales representative Ryan Hokenson on its most recent purchases. Hokenson also helped source attachments such as a vacuum lifting system the company has utilized on several projects, including the installation of 40 miles of pipe a few years ago.
“General Equipment is always there for us,” declared Steve. “If we need anything, they have a distinct ability to come at a moment’s notice. We have bought a lot of equipment out of their rental fleet, and we have never worried about it because we know it’s well maintained and will get the job done. We do a lot of our own service on the older machines and rely on their technicians’ expertise to diagnose and fix any issues on the newer excavators. We have had very little downtime because of that. In addition to Komatsu for Kemper Construction, we have worked with General Equipment quite a lot over the years for crushing equipment for Farden Construction.”
Focused on maintaining high-quality work
Steve’s fishing tale is even more impressive considering it may have played a part in the acquisition of another business, Stevens Welding, about three years ago because the former owner was also on the trip. The nearly 80-year-old company is based in Glenburn and performs welding and fabrication services for a wide variety of customers — including General Equipment.
“Stevens Welding is also run as a wholly separate entity from Farden Construction and Kemper Construction,” said Steve. “It fits right in as another well-established business. We don’t see any of them really getting bigger at this point. Our focus is maintaining the high-quality work that we do, and from the construction side, there is plenty of that coming as the state continues funding infrastructure updates for the municipalities. It seems there’s an endless amount of work for the foreseeable future.” ■
