Yes, the little one at the wheel of that Allis-Chalmers loader is our founder, Michael Casper. Years later, he started Great States Construction with a simple mission: Building Great Communities.

Great States Construction opened with one project, a tenant improvement for a chiropractic office, and a team of two: Michael and his dad. Those early years were about proving what a small, growing team could do. Word spread, and each project expanded what we could take on.

Two projects in two months: in May we finished Kone’s Kreamery, a gelato shop in Fargo’s Prairie Stone Center, and in July we delivered a new office for eOne Solutions, built around its wall of windows for an open, collaborative workspace.

Our first large multi-family project: 35 apartments in downtown Fargo with a rooftop patio and heated underground parking, built in nine months.

We finished Matt’s Automotive Service Center in Moorhead in January, then The Henson Group and Park Co., Realtors in Fargo in March. That spring, work began on Augusta Apartments, 62 homes in Fargo for Campbell Properties.

A three-story Fargo building with a gym, activity center, and commercial kitchen that became one of the city’s most recognized new office buildings. We also finished Augusta Apartments, 62 homes in Fargo for Campbell Properties.

Our growth earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. That year we also built Crumbl Cookies in West Fargo, Freddy’s Steakburgers in Fargo, and a three-story Public Storage facility in Gilbert, Arizona. In south Fargo, we finished Whispering Creek II, 74 apartments for adults 55 and better.

A second year on the Inc. 5000 list. We also completed The Plains, a 216-unit apartment community in Watertown, South Dakota, and gave El Agave in Fargo a full renovation.

We completed The Docks in Sioux Falls, the market’s first speculative industrial building at its scale, and 10Bedrock, a 288-unit community in Box Elder near Rapid City. In November, we finished The Teddy, 54 apartments in Fargo’s West Acres neighborhood.

We delivered the first three Kwik Trip and Kwik Star stores in the Fargo-Moorhead area at the same time, in Moorhead, Dilworth, and south Fargo, which took tight coordination across three active job sites. In Billings, Farmstead Townhomes joined Farmstead Apartments. In Edina, work began on The Setting on France, a 150-unit community at 7200 France Avenue.

Prairie Business magazine named us one of its 50 Best Places to Work, we broke ground on Emra Sioux Falls, and we opened the Great States Club at SCHEELS Arena. Today our team is building in Billings, Cheyenne, Bismarck, Sioux Falls, Fargo, the Twin Cities, and beyond.