# G.W. Van Keppel Celebrates 100 Years in Equipment Industry - **Published:** 2026-10-06 - **Edition:** Midwest - **Source:** Construction Equipment Guide - **Authors:** Katherine Petrik – CEG Senior Editor - **URL:** https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/gw-van-keppel-celebrates-100-years-in-equipment-industry/72434 - **Tags:** Anniversary, Events, Missouri ## Summary The G.W. Van Keppel Company celebrated 100 years in the heavy equipment industry with a celebration at its Kansas City, Mo., location. ## Article The G.W. Van Keppel Company celebrated a century in the heavy equipment industry Sept. 24, 2026, with a 100th anniversary celebration at its Kansas City, Mo., location. The event, held at the company's facility on Bannister Road, brought together employees, customers, industry partners and others to mark the milestone. Activities included food and drink trucks, a Gold Rush appearance and fireworks at dusk. Van Keppel traces its roots to 1926, when company founder G.W. Van Keppel established the business to meet the equipment needs of Kansas City-area road builders. An immigrant from Holland, Van Keppel built the company around the idea of serving as a connection between equipment manufacturers and the contractors and other users who depended on their machines. That philosophy has remained an important part of the company's identity as it has grown and expanded over the past 100 years. The company's original location was at 2461 Pennway in Kansas City, Mo., where its first office was located in the basement of the building. Van Keppel later expanded its operations and product offerings, moving its headquarters to Kansas City, Kan., and opening additional locations throughout the Midwest. Tom Walker joined the company in the 1950s after marrying G.W. Van Keppel's daughter, Elizabeth. Their son, Bill Walker, joined the business in 1976, continuing the family's involvement in the company. Van Keppel represents a broad range of equipment manufacturers, including Antraquip, Astec KPI_JCI, Astec Mobile Screens, Bergmann, BOMAG, Epiroc, Etnyre, Hyundai Construction Equipment, Hyundai Forklift, Kone Forklift, K-Tec scraper, LeeBoy, Midland, Peerless Conveyor, Pro-All Mixers, Rammer, Roadtec, SAKAI, SENNEBOGEN, Stepp Manufacturing, and Volvo Construction Equipment. The equipment lines cover applications including aggregate processing, quarry supplies, road building, asphalt, construction, material handling and other heavy-duty applications. Van Keppel also provides parts and service support for the equipment it sells, with factory-trained technicians and field and shop service available throughout its network. A century after its founding, Van Keppel continues to operate on the principle established by its founder — connecting manufacturers with the equipment users who put those machines to work building roads, developing sites, processing aggregates and completing other construction projects. The 100th anniversary celebration provided an opportunity for the company and those who have been part of its history to look back on that century of growth while recognizing the people and relationships that helped shape Van Keppel along the way. “Our business is a personal business built around great people — the people at Van Keppel Company, the manufacturers we represent and the customers we serve,” Bill Walker, CEO, told Construction Equipment Guide. “We are grateful to all of them for being a part of our journey and for helping us celebrate 100 years in business.” For more information, visit [vankeppel.com](https://vankeppel.com) ## Photos ![(L-R): are Brad Cook of Van Keppel; Zach Platt of UC Contracting; Coy Burton of Too Low Farms with a Hyundai HD100 dozer.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-1.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Weir Esco’s Anthony Obi (L) and Brad Turnquist gave out information on the company’s mining, construction and industrial products.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-10.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Cole Wilson was ready to show customers this Bergmann C815S water truck.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-11.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![In front of this Bergmann C805s high-capacity dumper (L-R) are Rick White, Anthony Wheeler and Britt Jaubon of JM Fahey Construction in Kansas City. They were there to congratulate Van Keppel on 100 years in business.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-12.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Van Keppel currently represents a broad range of equipment manufacturers.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-13.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R) are Mary Walker, Kevin Kientz, Champayne Norton, all of Van Keppel, and Trish Longan of Pennway Group.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-14.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R): Randy Spalding, Mark Cook, Eric Spiller, Andrew Spiller and Danny Brockhaus, all of Randy Spalding Excavating, are about to enjoy some fare from the food trucks on site.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-15.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R) are Brandon Schmitt of Volvo; Chris Lund of Van Keppel; Mitchel Rowley of Groundwork Group; and Melissa Guy of Volvo.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-16.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R) are Mike Paul of JMP Services; James Bulebush of Antraquip; and Mike Ward of Ward Construction.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-17.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Jeremiah Reinhardt (L) of LeeBoy and Derec Yakel of BOMAG, represented the FAYAT Group at the anniversary celebration.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-18.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Linden Talley, regional sales manager of SAKAI, had some swag to give away to guests.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-19.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![On display at the Van Keppel celebration was a Volvo A30 articulated truck being loaded by a Volvo EC500 excavator.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-2.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R): Al Engnes of Clarkson Construction talks with K-Tec’s Steve Craig, Chris O’Connell and Jeremy Schutte.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-20.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R): Jodi Dugan, Clair Dugan, Jeremy Greer and Katie Greer of Ray County Stone were looking over this EC500 excavator.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-21.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Steve Paone of Midland Machinery came all the way from New York to help celebrate Van Keppel’s 100th anniversary.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-22.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R): Kevin Kientz, COO of Van Keppel; Ben Schmidtlein, sales manager AG Group of Van Keppel; customer Kelly Briggs of Bayer Construction Company; and Bill Walker, CEO of Van Keppel, catch up during the 100th anniversary celebration.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-3.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R) are Jason Kellner of Van Keppel; Steve Korth, Van Keppel: Travis Best of Legacy Drilling and Blasting; Stacey Stroble of Legacy Drilling and Blasting; and Jerry Enyeart, district manager of Epiroc, with an Epiroc SmartROC T40 drill rig.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-4.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Dan Rafferty (L) of Volvo Construction Equipment shows Juan Ibarra of the TV show Gold Rush how to load rocks with the Volvo EC750 excavator simulator.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-5.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R) are Krissy Lund, vice president of sales, Van Keppel: Joe Booley, Kansas City sales, Van Keppel; Ryan Breit of Breit Construction; Chad Rosenstengle of Breit Construction; and Adam Riddell of Superior Bowen.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-6.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Chris Holt (L) and Jason Potter of Crusher Wear Parts (CWP) were on hand to discuss CWP’s offerings.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-7.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![(L-R): Jeff Shrout of Clarkson Construction, Kansas City, Mo., talks with Jeff Sharp and Scott Bauercamper of Rammer.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-8.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo* ![Mark Young (R) of Van Keppel welcomes (L-R) P&M Excavating’s Macy, Robert, Rob and Landon Malone to the 100th anniversary celebration.](https://dmt55mxnkgbz2.cloudfront.net/1205x0_s3-72434-M-VK-100-9.jpg) *Photo credit: CEG photo*