Location: Marshfield, Mo.
Owner: Kenny Grunlien
History: Years ago, Kenny Grunlien had a piece of property by Interstate 44, which he later sold to Jordan Valley. He was also working for a company in Springfield. His property was very visible from I-44.
“We built a few portable buildings and set out there for just a little side deal, and it kind of blew up immediately,” Kenny said. “One thing led to another. We did the portable buildings first. I actually built a little shop building to put my boat in, and we had two or three of those shop buildings sold before I got mine done.”
People thought he was crazy for quitting his job. But 20 years later, Marshfield Buildings is going strong, and no longer on property by the interstate. Manager Danny Petty has been “with me since day one,” Kenny added.
Construction is something Kenny said he has done his whole life. He started when he was younger, even before he got out of school, and continued after he graduated.
Products and Services: Marshfield Buildings sells anything from small portable buildings all the way up to commercial jobs, and anything in between, Kenny stated.
“We sell lots of barns and garages and shops,” he said. “We build houses and do commercial work.”
Kenny has 10 hourly employees and “lots of subcontractors.”
Their most popular products are “barns and buildings,” Kenny said. “We do lots and lots of portable buildings, but they’re a lesser amount. It would take lots of portable buildings to equal the amount of a good-sized barn,” he explained.
Most of their buildings take seven to 10 days to construct. But there are exceptions. The farthest they have traveled to construct a building is Denver, Colo. “We’d never do it again,” Kenny said. “The guys were there close to a month and sat through three snow storms. It was a local Marshfield guy who lived out there and wanted us to do it. We went and did it.”
They sell several pole barns, and Kenny has four subcontracted crews who build them. He only uses top-quality materials in his buildings.
When asked how business had changed in the last five years, Kenny said it has just increased every year. His busiest times of year are spring and fall. “In the fall, people need a building to store the stuff they bought all summer,” he said.
