Company History
G.W. Van Keppel, the son of Dutch immigrants, founded The G.W. Van Keppel Company in 1926 to meet the needs of Kansas City area road builders. The company was then incorporated in the state of Missouri in 1945. In 1951 Elizabeth, Mr. Van Keppel's daughter, married Tom Walker. Tom joined the company as a sales representative in 1954 and was later promoted to President in 1970. In 1976, Tom and Elizabeth's son Bill followed in his father's footsteps and joined the family business as a sales representative. During his time in sales, Bill saw the company grow and expand, moving it's headquarters to the current location in Kansas City, KS in 1978 and then opening the company's first branch location in Springfield, MO in 1987. Bill also saw his father, Tom, go on to become Chairman and CEO of the company in 1987 while he was named President. Bill Walker eventually took over his father's responsibilities when Tom Walker passed away in 2004.
In the years following this transition, the company experienced a period of great expansion as several new locations were opened. The company expanded it's operations into the state of Oklahoma in 1990 when it opened a facility in Tulsa. In 1993, the company branched out into the material handling industry through it's purchase of Phillips Machinery, a Hyster dealership in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The company's growth continued into 1994 with two important acquisitions, as well as the opening of two new facilities in St. Louis, MO and Wichita, KS. The purchase of L.B. Smith Machinery Co., allowed it to offer both material handling and construction equipment services at it's locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma city. The company also acquired the Mitchell Machinery Company, which allowed it to expand operations into the state of Arkansas with locations in Little Rock and Van Buren.
The company went through another period of expansion during 1996. It purchased the Kansas City, KS based Peerless Conveyor and Manufacturing Company and the Kansas City, MO based Fehrs Equipment. These two acquisitions allowed the company to expand it's product offerings and provide customers with quarry supply and trench safety equipment as well as custom engineered conveyors. Since 1996, the company has continued it's expansion with the opening of new locations in Columbia, MO in 2001; Garden City, KS in 2002; Fort Worth, TX in 2006; and Topeka, KS in 2008.
What began as the vision and dream of an immigrant's son has grown to become one of the leading providers of equipment and services for the construction, material handling, trench safety, and quarry supply industries in the Midwest. We here at G.W. Van Keppel appreciate your interest in our company, and we pledge to meet all your equipment and service needs with the highest level of quality and integrity.