MG Williamson (Commanding General, 412th TEC), MAJ Bart Kemper, COL (Ret) Caunse Kemper at the 2007 NSPE Federal Engineer of the Year ceremony at the Washington DC Press Club.
— From our remaining founder, Bart Kemper
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since returning from Iraq and starting a new business. The old one, Kemper Imageering, folded while I was serving in Iraq due to my business partner leaving and the effects of Hurricane Katrina. I was given multiple job offers when I returned. I had options.
Running a business is no small thing. Twelve-hour days are the norm. You get to pick where you spend those hours, but you still have to plow that field. In the end, it was my clients and my family. I was getting emails while I was still overseas from clients who had major projects but were waiting on me. At home, I wanted to take my kids to school and pick them up. They had their own room at the office to do homework and play. I wanted more than just seeing them still asleep in the mornings and already in bed at night the way many of my peers saw their kids.
The deciding factor was my father, pictured on the right. He had served a full career in the Regular Army and had retired in 1988. I chose to be a Reservist when I commissioned. When he was called to deploy, he always did. However, when he was not deployed he put a lot of time into the family, even when it got in the way of career progression. He made it clear I could be successful in any direction. He pointed out, however, that I was happiest with taking on projects others passed on, solving problems others couldn’t, and bringing ideas in from multiple industries to come up with a novel approach — things that are unlikely if I worked for someone else and their needs.
“Dad, I can’t do this alone. I need help.”
“Son, you have me.”
So, he became my partner when I started Kemper Engineering in 2006. He stood by me when I was recognized as one of the Top 10 Federal Engineers in 2007 as the only Army engineer, military or civilian. He poked at me later, saying “See, I told you that you were good. Now keep working.” While he died suddenly in early 2008, his faith in me has kept me going even now.
We have had multiple turnovers in personnel. We have mentored numerous college interns and young engineers. When the 2010 oil spill knocked us down we made sure everyone found good jobs. Krista Krcmarik Wohlfeil, who had joined the company in December 2007, became a partner and owner in 2011. She had proven herself time and again as a steady hand, keeping her eye on the horizon and guiding things while leaving me to take lead with the engineering and marketing.
I thrive on challenge and innovation. Kemper Engineering Services gives me that, the ability to make time to be with family, flexibility to keep serving as a Reservist, and great people to work with. We have published papers, earned patents, taught at universities, and presented in a variety of conferences. Those achievements are great, but are nothing compared to when we crank out a failure analysis and repair design over a weekend to put a plastics plant back online, or use multi-physics simulations to troubleshoot a biotech process, or crawl through a ship to take data to help them qualify their equipment for the US Coast Guard. Our clients’ success is our best achievement.
Working here at KES has not just given me great people to work with and projects that keep me excited and challenged, it has allowed me to serve as an engineer just as I serve as an Army officer. Volunteering to teach grade school math, mentoring college students, working on codes & standards are all ways we give back. We get to do our own projects, like the Pressure Injury Reducing Footrest, to help out causes we believe in.
The most important aspect in all of this is our clients. Without our clients, none of this would happen. We never forget how important it is to provide our best efforts. There are many reasons why I have kept at this, but through it all it has been the chance to work with great people from diverse companies to help them with their needs. My ten years here are because of our clients, and for that and all that I have been able to do in this past decade, thank you.
Recent Comments