The story of Okland Construction begins far from Salt Lake City. The company was started in 1918 by Norwegian boat builder John Okland, who immigrated to America, drawn here by a chance encounter. He launched a company that four generations later continues to shape the skyline of the new West.
"He was coming from Norway to study engineering and live with an uncle in North Dakota," says Randy Okland, current Okland Construction board chairman. He recounts the story of his grandfather's passage to America in the early 1900s. "He met my grandmother [a recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] on the boat. She was on her way to Salt Lake City. He ended up following her here, where he installed millwork and did carpentry," Okland says. "He was a skilled carpenter and he knew quality work. Eventually, he was asked by people to take on larger and larger jobs, and in 1918 he established Okland Construction to do that work."