By Ron Wilson, Director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

What does Kansas do well?  Many things, but here's one: Kansans can build. Our state has lots of people who work hard at building things. Today, we'll meet a company that builds homes and other facilities. The company's very name says it all: KanBuild.  This company has a remarkable history of building and rebuilding itself.

Meet John Samples of Osage City, Kansas.  John told us the remarkable story of the company KanBuild Inc.

KanBuild Inc. is a producer of modular, factory built structures for homes and office buildings. The company's history really begins with a couple of major developers in Kansas City. Apparently some of the key principals in those development companies were talking about the possibility of a manufactured housing business in eastern Kansas. 

They decided to start it up and they located the plant in Osage City.

The first employee of the company was none other than John Samples. He was with the company from the very beginning. The business was launched, but then ran into the tough times of the 1980s. In November 1988, the Kansas City businessmen announced that the plant was going to close.

But the entrepreneurs and citizens of Osage City didn't want to lose this business.  John Samples worked with local investors to purchase the company, and on Feb.12, 1989, a new company was formed. Its name was KanBuild.

KanBuild was a locally-owned homegrown business in a rural setting. The company's specialty was producing custom made, modular homes. It began with 25 employees. These employees worked hard, and under the leadership of John Samples and the other owners, the company progressed dramatically.

In 1994, KanBuild was selected as Entrepreneur of the Year for a turnaround company in the states of Kansas and Missouri. The company continued to grow. By 2001, the company had two plants in Colorado plus the plant in Osage City, annual sales of 30 million dollars, more than 275 employees, and was the largest producer of modular homes in the state.

In fact, the business was so successful that it attracted outside investor interest.  The company sold in 2001 to an out-of-state business. But this ownership did not work out for the company either. In August 2005, the out-of-state owners announced the closure of the Osage City facility.

Again the local citizens rallied. John Samples and other investors stepped up to the plate, and as of Jan. 1, 2006, KanBuild Inc. was reborn.

Once again, it is a locally owned company built on rural people. Quintin Robert, the manager, is a native of Osage City.  John Samples is originally from Matfield Green, population 60 people. Now, that's rural.

John Samples is proud and supportive of his employees. He says, "They have a high level of skill. Many have worked for me for 20 years. We're going to do an employee stock ownership program in a couple of years so that they own the company."

John says, "I believe we make the best house on the market. We specialize in doing custom stuff. If we can ship it down the road, we'll build it to suit the customer."

Sixty percent of their business is residential, but the company produces a remarkable array of buildings for other uses. KanBuild Inc. makes commercial buildings and multifamily dwellings, relocatable classrooms and permanent school buildings.  They've built banks and medical facilities, optical and dental clinics, and even four-story apartment buildings.

KanBuild structures are found throughout the central U.S., border to border from the Dakotas to Texas. The company even has a contract with the U.S. Post Office to build postal buildings for small communities across the country. Post office buildings made by KanBuild can be found from Washington state to Tennessee, and all the buildings were built in Osage City, Kansas.

What does Kansas do well? Kansans can build. We salute John Samples, Quintin Robert, and all the people of the KanBuild Inc. company for making a difference with their hard work and entrepreneurship. When it comes to creating a positive future, I believe it is something that committed Kansans can build.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.