Kraus-Anderson Companies’ years-long succession plan promotes Peter Diessner to Chief Executive Officer
March 8, 2024
Bruce Engelsma remains Chairman
Peter Diessner has been named chief executive officer of Kraus-Anderson Companies, Inc., the holding company for KA’s 127-year-old family of companies. Diessner has been chief operating officer of KA Companies since 2023. He succeeds Bruce Engelsma who has been CEO since 1997. Engelsma remains chairman of KA Companies and will continue to serve on various committees within the enterprise, which includes KA Construction, KA Realty & Development, KA Insurance and KA Financial Services Group.
Diessner’s appointment to the top leadership role is a seamless transition and natural progression of many years of intentional and thoughtful planning for the family-owned company.
“This third generation of leadership comes at a time of continuing prosperity at Kraus-Anderson,” said Bruce Engelsma, KA Companies’ visionary leader, who joined KA in 1975 and has served as chairman and CEO for 27 years. Engelsma’s father, Lloyd, led the company from 1937 until his death in 1997.
Each of KA’s family of companies works independently and together to achieve KA Companies’ continued growth and prosperity.
“You can see the results all around us,” said Engelsma. “New and growing regional offices and areas of expertise; a robust properties portfolio; redevelopment and new development activities; longstanding clients and tenants along with exciting new opportunities — these are among the many synergies emerging as our people work together to build KA’s brand and the communities we serve.”
In his new role, Diessner will join and lead the executive leadership team at KA Construction, one of the nation’s premier commercial general contractors and construction managers, as it continues to strategically grow and expand. The company has operations in nine cities, including the opening of new regional offices this year in Fargo, N.D. and Phoenix, Ariz. Managing $1.4 billion in construction, its vast portfolio in numerous building sectors comprises education, healthcare, commercial, hospitality, offices, retail, housing and mixed-use developments, as well as buildouts and special projects.
Diessner will serve as CEO and continue to serve as president of KA Realty & Development. KA Development provides comprehensive development services for KA’s real estate portfolio and third- party owners. In the past five years KA Development has completed over 700,000 square feet of development and multi-family housing, including 1,275 apartment units.
KA Realty owns and manages a portfolio of 5.73 million square feet of more than 70 commercial real estate properties throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.
As CEO, Diessner will also oversee KA Insurance, the fifth largest privately held insurance brokerage in Minnesota and a national leader in risk management services; and KA Financial Services Group, which manages over $300 million in financing related to KA Realty’s portfolio of properties and provides treasury management for all the KA entities.
Diessner, an attorney, joined KA Financial Services Group in May 2018 as director and was named vice president in February 2019. In April 2019, he became president of KA Realty & Development to provide high level oversight of the company’s existing and prospective portfolio of real estate, as well as financial analysis for KA interests and partners. He was named COO of KA Companies in March of 2023. Prior to joining KA, Diessner was a Twin Cities real estate attorney first at Fredrikson & Byron and then at Speeter & Johnson. He focused his practice on transactions and disputes involving real estate.
Diessner received his J.D. from the William Mitchell College of Law and his B.A. in Financial Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College. He is on the board of the Children’s Theatre Company.
“Kraus-Anderson maintains an extraordinarily high level of collaboration and innovation throughout our companies and teams,” said Diessner. “I’m excited about new geographic horizons as we continue to grow and the opportunities for our people to engage in personal and professional development.”