Duluth at 25: A celebration of the 25th anniversary of Kraus-Anderson opening an office in Duluth

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Written by Brenden Nickels, Senior Office Assistant 

Throughout its long one-and-a-quarter century in operations, Kraus-Anderson has expanded its operations beyond its main headquarters in Minneapolis to St. Paul, Circle Pines, Bemidji, Rochester, Bismarck, Madison, and most recently, Milwaukee. But it was July of 1999 when KA began operations in Minnesota’s gateway to the northland, Duluth. Now retired Director of Operations Jeff Iisakka recalls it like this: 

“We started from scratch, first renting a small office in downtown. A project manager and project assistant were hired, and the business development and estimating wheels began churning. Soon after, our first project superintendent was hired, Wade Engebretson. Our hard working and dedicated team immediately made a positive impact with owners, architects, subcontractors, and suppliers. There was a concerted effort to engage with the community and show our support to worthy organizations that improved the life of so many in the Duluth region. 

 Many more quality individuals joined our team, which was more of a family. We shared many ups and downs and became resilient with each passing year. The outstanding success of the Duluth office is due to the amazing talent of its people, and together we joined hands to build a stronger community.” 

 A month later the hard work begins  

A month later, the office worked on their first project, which was renovating The Spina Building, a historic building originally built in 1911 for DSGW Architects to move into. Most recently, the office converted the original Duluth Central High School building into a new apartment building known as Zenith DCHS Apartments. (Duluth’s nickname is “The Zenith City”.) Other recent projects done by the KA Duluth office include: 

• The Cirrus Innovation Center, which was converting the old Northwest maintenance facility into Cirrus’s Research and Development center, various projects at  

• Numerous projects at the Glensheen Historic Estate 

• New office and shop for Veit 

• Birchwood Apartments, owned by Center City Housing, a company that owns and operates housing for those with low incomes 

• An addition to Lake View Hospital in Two Harbors 

• And a new St. Luke’s medical clinic in Ashland 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”33498,33499,33500,33501,33503,33502,33505,33504″ img_size=”medium” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]All in all, KA Duluth has worked on 473 projects total, 281 in the city of Duluth itself.  

The Duluth office has worked on many school projects throughout the area that represent a significant amount of total volume. Clients in that sector have included: Cloquet Public Schools, Cook County Cromwell-Wright, Duluth, Ely, Hermantown, Hinckley-Finlayson, Lake Superior, Nett Lake, North Shore Community, Rock Ridge (where the district’s high school became the office’s largest product to date at 279,400 square feet and costing $93.31 million), Sauk Centre, and Superior. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”33515,33514,33518,33510,33507,33512,33511,33513,33508,33516,33517,32323,32324,32158″ img_size=”medium” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]

KA Duluth is Making Moves, Literally We’ve Moved! 

 Most recently, KA Duluth has moved into the old Duluth National Bank building at 2000 West Superior Street. According to the current Director of Operations, Dan Markham, everyone is enjoying the new office: 

 “We’ve been in for a few weeks now, and we’ve quickly adapted to the new open office design. We’ve got amenities that we didn’t have before, including a large kitchen/lounge area, great natural lighting from our big windows, a mezzanine with multiple collaboration spaces, and “The Vault” – a massive vault door from the original owner – Duluth National Bank.  Also, we’re now a part of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, a revitalized area just west of downtown Duluth with several restaurants and shops within walking distance.” 

Just like the other Kraus-Anderson offices, KA Duluth has been known to get out into the community. The office’s biggest contribution is the creation of the Kraus-Anderson Bike Duluth Festival. Since 2014, this event on the Duluth trail network and at Spirit Mountain has taken advantage of the popularity of mountain biking and the fact that Duluth’s bike trails have been recognized as a Gold Level Ride Center by the International Mountain Biking Association. While the company has since passed on ownership of the event to a Rotary club, they continue to sponsor and volunteer at it.  

 “Other ways we support the community is through workforce efforts to promote and engage in opportunities to share who KA is, what we do, and the amazing career opportunities the construction industry has for women, minorities, veterans, and all people,” said KA Duluth Office Manager Becca Bohlman. “We also engage in the company’s KA Has Heart opportunities where we can come together and support area non-profits on tasks they need assistance with.” [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”33496,33495″ img_size=”medium” css=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]

Changes in the Duluth Landscape Over the Last 25 Years 

A lot has changed these past 25 years, but Markham sees the opportunity in the region that will provide a strong future. 

“Duluth has had moderate population growth in the 25 years that KA has been in town, but the region we serve has grown more significantly.  The regional economy has a fairly stable 4-legged base: natural resource extraction and transportation, health care, education, and tourism.  Prior to the 1990’s the regional economy was subject to significant boom and bust cycles, largely driven by the global commodity markets (steel and lumber, in particular).  More recently, our economy has stabilized, so while in the ‘boom’ times, we may not experience as much growth as other regions, but during the ‘bust’ cycles, we don’t experience the same depth of business decline.  The result is a stable market in the construction industry with a base of strong subcontractor partners. 

 From a construction perspective, in the past projects in this market were almost exclusively delivered through the ‘low-bid’ model. Kraus-Anderson introduced Construction Management delivery to the region, demonstrating the value of a more collaborative process between the owner, architect, and builder.  KA has been successful in this region because of our collaborative model, and through living our Core Purpose of Building Strong Communities and Enduring Relationships.” 

 Congratulations to our Duluth office on their 25-year anniversary. We hope you are enjoying your new office!  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]