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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
The Kent Stilson Construction Company has a different name now. However, the same sterling reputation is intact as Kent's three sons, Ken, Lewis and Royce carry on with Stilson & Sons Construction, Incorporated in Emery County.
Father Kent was born and raised in Orangeville, Utah to a farmer/rancher father. He recognized very early that the farming life was tough, hard and long. After graduating from high school is Castle Dale, Kent went to work in the mines. During the 1950s, he began work as a carpenter on the Utah Power & Light Carbon Plant. He secured his general contractor license in 1961 and started Kent Stilson Construction Company.
In the early Œ70s, UP&L started construction of its two units at Huntington Power Plant and followed with three units at the Hunter Plant site. This created an instant demand for housing. Kent and his company built foundations and installed more than 250 pre-built houses during the next decade.
As the housing boom faded in the 1980s, Stilson Construction built hundreds of commercial or industrial buildings and structures, including projects that included schools, churches, telephone offices, a power plant office, service centers and training buildings, mine warehouses, libraries, senior citizen centers and the list went on and on.
Most members of the Stilson family have worked at the company, including 16 grandsons and several granddaughters. Ruth, Kent's wife, did the accounting and book work for the growing company. Sons Ken, Lewis and Royce all had successful careers in other fields but soon returned to Emery County to assist with the fast growing company.
Well, Kent Stilson is mighty proud of the legacy he has left his company. He retired in the Œ90s but Ruth still carries on in the office and the sons, grandsons and granddaughters are working hard to preserve and protect the great reputation of Kent Stilson.
For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.
