Meet KL Engineering — a Wisconsin-based civil engineering firm serving clients throughout the upper Midwest. The company was founded in 1991 in Madison, Wisconsin by CEO and founder Kim M. Lobdell, who has been a leader in the engineering industry for over 30 years.
Starting the company out of her home, Kim took her dreams of turning KL Engineering into a thriving business to Oak Bank (which was only a few years old at the time), and the two parties immediately got the ball rolling.
“Our financial partnership has thrived for over 23 years,” says Scott Cramer, KL Engineering COO. “Since I’ve been at KL, Jim [McNulty, Oak Bank’s Senior Vice President – Business Banking] and the whole team have been extremely helpful in getting us connected with people, and we’ve enjoyed the local flavor of Oak Bank’s business. I think we’re both similar in that it feels like a kind of family, very close-knit, with an emphasis on work-life balance. We identify with one another. It’s been a great relationship.”
From the onset, Oak Bank has championed KL Engineering’s vision of growth through nonstop financial guidance and day-to-day assistance. For Cramer and the rest of the KL Engineering team, Oak Bank’s personal touch and round-the-clock availability have set it apart from other banks.
“We have run into times when we weren’t able to access our online account or some other urgent issue would arise, and we are able to contact somebody at Oak Bank right away,” says Cramer. “Being able to talk to an expert that can help when you need it is a huge difference when working with Oak Bank versus some big behemoth financial institution. But like the big guys, Oak Bank offers us the latest technology that gives us [efficiency] when managing our accounts.”
With Oak Bank’s decades-long personal assistance and guidance, KL Engineering has seen its business thrive beyond what it initially thought possible. Since its humble inception, KL Engineering now operates out of four offices throughout Wisconsin and employs 90 people (and counting).
Perhaps the biggest recent win for KL Engineering and Oak Bank has been expanding the ownership group to a handful of employees, ensuring that the KL legacy can continue long into the future.
As a vital player in KL Engineering’s success, McNulty helped spearhead the employee transfer of ownership process. He recalls being invited to the contract signing celebratory event with the new ownership group and their spouses and describes the heartfelt scene as his “feel-good story of the year.”
Thinking back on all the years of service that McNulty has provided for KL Engineering, Cramer says, “I really can’t recall even one bad experience working together. It’s been extraordinary, working through the ups and downs, knowing he’s looking out for us.”
And the feeling is more than mutual. “The best part of my job is helping clients grow and succeed, and KL Engineering is a great example of that,” says McNulty.
Like Jim McNulty, the entire team at Oak Bank works hard to meet all its business clients’ unique needs with innovative solutions to help them take their next step to success.
