Chief Financial Officer
KFI ENGINEERS
KFI Engineers (Karges-Faulconbridge Inc.) is an incredibly reputable consulting engineering firm with nearly 30 years of history engaging in and executing major process and infrastructure engineering and design project work across varied commercial and industrial markets including Education, Healthcare, Food and Beverage, Clean Manufacturing, Agriculture, and others. Initially founded and run by Bill Karges and Jim Faulconbridge (now CEO), KFI has experienced healthy and intelligent growth over its existence having never laid off any employees with exception to the 2008 financial crisis time period. Over the last 5-6 years, KFI has experienced both steady organic growth, and has also grown via 4 strategic acquisitions, while maintaining its foundational philosophy of laser-focused delivery, unparalleled problem solving, and exceptional results. Currently, KFI Engineers employs nearly 200 people, generates over $40M in annual revenue, and is registered in all 50 states. As KFI's incumbent CFO has decided to retire after 21 years with the firm, its CEO and Board of Directors seek the company's next data and relationship-driven finance executive to lead a wide range of functional activities including internal finance, real estate, corporate IT, legal, and peripheral business operations (North Central Aviation/NCA) as the company continues on its solid growth path.
A Foundation you can build on
Getting a sense of the foundation that has been built prior to your arrival offers a lens through which you can see where your career may go.
KFI Engineers
KFI Engineers (Karges-Faulconbridge Inc.) is a highly reputable consulting engineering firm with nearly 30 years of history engaging in and executing major process and infrastructure engineering and design project work across varied commercial and industrial markets including Education, Healthcare, Food and Beverage, Clean Manufacturing, Agriculture, and others. Alongside KFI is its sister company, North Central Aviation, a private jet charter service based in the Twin Cities that serves KFI's consultant travel needs in a highly effective and efficient way.
History
KFI Engineers (Karges-Faulconbridge Inc.) was initially founded by seasoned engineering leader Bill Karges in the mid 1990's who, soon after, was joined by Jim Faulconbridge after they had met on the massive Mall of America project. Between 1996 and 2000, KFI hired its Head of Commercial, Head of Industry, Head of Marketing, and Head of Finance, all of who are still with the firm today, over 20 years later. The firm experienced steady and healthy organic growth, and has more recently made strategic acquisitions in 2013, 2017, 2020, and 2022 to expand its capabilities and its geographical position across the US. Today, KFI employs over 200 people, generates over $40M in revenue, and while a lot has changed over KFI's 26 year history, its focus on results and unparalleled attention to detail stays standing.
Consulting Engineering
KFI is a stand-out firm in the consulting engineering space given its incredibly talented and tenured leadership team, its single majority owner structure for almost 30 years, its unique capabilities across several niche markets, and most importantly, the way it approaches its client interactions almost strictly with "owners" versus engaging in lower-margin work with peripheral partners. In an industry where layoffs can be a regular activity, KFI has reduced its force only one time in nearly 30 years of history, which happened during the 2008 recession. The firm is laser focused on financial stability, profitability, carrying no debt, and maintaining an extremely strong balance sheet, a philosophy that ensures steady career paths and continuous growth opportunities for its employees. The firm engages with premier organizations across many market sectors including prestigious higher education institutions like University Notre Dame, Dartmouth, and Harvard.
Scale
Registered in all 50 states, KFI currently employs over 200 people across 4 offices in the US, and generates over $40M in revenue, with over $500M in placed work. The firm has experienced a 20% three-year compounded annual growth rate, and is on a growth trajectory toward ~$75M in revenue by 2025. While the leadership team understands growth is important, the firm's goal is not to simply be the biggest - rather, it is to grow intelligently enough in "size" and "legend" to be able to win any project in the US it wishes to take on.
Our Take On KFI's Values
Intelligent Growth
While KFI certainly maintains a growth mindset, it focuses more on slow, steady, and healthy growth versus haphazard hyper-expansion. This allows them to remain grounded in what makes them so special; their ability to deliver exceptional results time and time again.
Trust-Based Relationships
With several of KFI's senior leaders having worked at the firm since the mid to late 1990's, there's no question that the team values relationships rooted in trust. And at the core of the firm's philosophy is the interest in working almost strictly with building and property owners requiring strength in the leadership team's ability to establish rapport and trust quickly.
Speed and Agility
While KFI generates over $40M in revenue, its leadership team still moves quickly like a small firm. Decisions and progress are made with velocity, an imperative characteristic of a high-performing, growth oriented firm. KFI embodies an entrepreneurial culture, where leaders have the autonomy to drive the business forward in an agile way without the hurdles of red tape.
