PROGRESS: Metro Sioux City builder Brown Wegher joins forces with Sioux Falls firm

Tim Brown, CEO of Brown Wegher, said merger talks began in May and were finalized on Dec. 31. 

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

"It was a mutual consultant that was working for both companies, and just recognized a real fit for us," Brown said. "We've been thinking through succession planning for a few years, with the goal of -- Rick (Wegher) and I are both in our late 50s, and we wanted to make sure that Brown Wegher Construction (and MBW Construction), we wanted to make sure that those two entities had a bright future after we hit an age that we can't support it." 

Brown said that Weger maintains a "significant ownership piece" in Brown Wegher Residential, while Brown maintains an ownership stake in MBW, along with Tyler Manker (whose last name is the "M" in MBW).

Staffers at MBW and Brown Wegher are expected to remain in their current roles. 

"It wasn't a merger to create cost savings, so our entire staff is staying on board and doing the same things they want to do," Brown said. "It was an opportunity for more significant growth and succession planning." 

The Journey Group in Sioux Falls was incorporated in 1910 and was the builder of several older Sioux Falls landmarks, including the Orpheum Theater and the Boyce-Greeley Building, as well as O'Gorman and Lincoln high schools and numerous other projects, according to the firm's website. 

In a statement, the Journey Group wrote that Brown Wegher's companion business entities "have a long-standing history, a strong customer base, and similar culture and values as Journey." 

Wegher Construction was founded more than 30 years ago by Rick Wegher and some partners, while Brown Construction was founded by Tim Brown, and was perhaps best known for work in Lakeport Commons, the shopping center at the intersection of Sergeant Road and South Lakeport Street that opened in 2005.

Brown Construction ran into some difficulty during the 2007-2008 financial crisis, which hit the construction industry hard.

In 2011, Brown and Wegher combined to form Brown Wegher Construction. Wegher serves as president of the firm, which now goes by Brown Wegher Residential. 

Last spring, Brown Wegher launched MBW Construction & Engineering, which focuses primarily on work at food processing facilities, manufacturing facilities, refrigerated warehouses, commercial development and the like. 

Brown Wegher was the contractor in several prominent projects in metro Sioux City, including the extensive remodel of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce building in 2019 and the BoDean's wafer-baking plant in Le Mars, as well as several projects in Dakota Dunes, an upscale community in extreme southeast South Dakota. The firm has built numerous homes in Dakota Dunes, as well as other communities in the region. 

MBW has carved out a niche in food processing and cold storage construction, primarily in Siouxland. The firm's clients have included Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, CF Industries, empirical Foods and Cloverleaf Cold Storage. Nationally, it's been involved with projects from Philadelphia to Phoenix.