About Us

What began as the vision and dream of an immigrant from Holland 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 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.

G.W. Van Keppel, an immigrant from Holland, 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 1984. Bill also saw his father, Tom, go on to become Chairman and CEO of the company in 1984 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 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. Now in 12 states with 17 locations, Van Keppel is proud to continue serving great quality service to all their customers.

Bill Walker

President

Kevin Kientz

Executive Vice President

Brian Loderhose

Vice President / Product Support

Rick Krause

Chief Financial Officer

Sam Hayes

Aggregate Sales Manager

Michael Murray

Supply Division General Manager

Krissy Lund

Used Parts Division Manager

Sherry Sullivan

Sales & Inventory Administrator