Kodiak acquires Mandere Construction & Northwest Building Components

John Mandere, president of Mandere Construction and Northwest Building Components, and Kodiak Building Partners announced Wednesday the acquisition of both Mandere Construction and Northwest Building Components by Kodiak, as of June 1. This acquisition marks Kodiak’s 25th transaction.

Mandere Construction and Northwest Building Components both operate from a single, 12-acre location in Rathdrum and service the broader Spokane-Coeur d’Alene metropolitan area. Together, the two companies provide wall panels and floor and roof trusses, as well as framing and installation services for single family, multi-family, and commercial construction.

John Mandere will continue in his role of president and has become a substantial investor in Kodiak Building Partners.

John Mandere began his career in the early 1990s as a residential framer, with just his Skilsaw, Subaru, and ski bum lifestyle. In 1992, he hired a few people “but knew that he would not be able to succeed and ultimately retire without stepping up his game and focusing on improving the overall construction process,” apress release said.

His operation began by constructing wall panels for his own framing jobs, a couple of home builders, and some multifamily.

“Through hard work, he developed a strong reputation which allowed him to grow and later expand into a state-of-the-art truss operation,” the release said.

Among the 250-plus employees at Mandere, many of Mandere’s earliest hires remain in the organizations as key leaders and contributors.

Following this transaction, Mandere is looking forward to having the freedom to focus on the aspects of his business for which he has passion and expertise, while enjoying the benefit of Kodiak’s back-office support in areas such as finance, HR, and IT.

“I can’t wait to get back to more customer-facing activities,” he said. “My local touchpoints are a large part of Mandere’s success, and having the ability to again concentrate on what really matters to our customers can only mean more growth and profitability.”

Steve Swinney, Kodiak’s CEO, sees Mandere as a strong addition to Kodiak’s growing presence in the Pacific Northwest.

“We’re thrilled to have John and his team join the Kodiak family, as his experienced workforce are the go-to experts in wood construction in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene market,” he said. “We expect their products and services to nicely complement our other companies in the region.”

Regarding how the current pandemic situation impacted the transaction, Steve commented that “The COVID-19 situation escalated quickly, but our ability to close the deal is a testament to the strong operating performance of both Kodiak and Mandere. This performance gave our Board the confidence to continue its support of Kodiak’s aggressive growth strategy. It’s kind of a big deal to get this done in the midst of this recession.”

Mandere Construction and Northwest Building Components together have over 250 employees and manufacture wall panels and floor and roof trusses and provide installation services to markets in Idaho, Washington, and Montana. They cater to residential, commercial, and agricultural construction projects.

Kodiak Building Partners, through its 81 locations, serves general contractors, homebuilders, sub-contractors, remodelers, and consumers with its operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, Nebraska, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.