Jeff Deswert Names Next President of Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.

Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company (KNCC) is excited to announce that Jason Terry, LEED AP has become the company’s third President. Jason joined KNCC in 2012 as a Project Manager, then opened the Pendleton office in 2014 as the region’s Division Manager. Jason and his wife moved back to Bend in 2019 and began to prepare for this transition.

With continued growth in mind, KNCC announced the promotions of additional key team members to the role of Vice President. Alec Hansen, most recently a General Superintendent with a 23-year tenure, will lead project execution and operations. Chris Prahl, who joined the team 17 years ago, is shifting from managing the Portland office operations to oversee business development and marketing. Formerly a Senior Project Manager, Mike Lawrence has taken on leadership of the finance department. Additionally, Mike Taylor, longtime Vice President and business leader with Jeff, will maintain his role focusing on preconstruction and risk management.

As a key part of KNCC’s planned succession efforts, former President Jeff Deswert will operate as Chairman of the Board of Directors. After starting his career working at Mt. Bachelor, Jeff began his commercial construction career in 1986 as one of the first employees of KNCC working out of founder Kirby Nagelhout’s house in Bend. He advanced within the company through the operations ranks before taking on the role as the company’s second President in 2010, following 25 years of leadership from Kirby Nagelhout. During Jeff’s tenure as President, he expanded KNCC’s footprint by opening permanent regional offices in Portland and Pendleton and grew the operations into Washington. As a result, KNCC’s annual volume grew from $26M to over $200M in those 13 years.

This new leadership team will open the doors to KNCC’s newly built Bend office next year and will continue KNCC’s growth and service to our communities for many years to come.