New owners for Artisan Contracting

A Cape Girardeau contracting company is under new ownership.

Larry Frankum, longtime owner of Artisan Contracting at 2097 Corporate Circle, sold the company to Gary and Jacki Wood on Nov. 1.

The Woods also own Stryker Construction, a St. Louis-based company, among several other businesses.

"Our goal was to find the right person with the right resources and the right credentials who would take this company as-is and move forward with it," Frankum said.

Artisan Contracting is a heavy-industrial contractor that specializes in general contracting, maintenance, design, remodeling and installation work.

Frankum had worked for Artisan or its parent company since 1985, oversaw it as it was spun off into its own division in 1995, and bought it outright a decade ago.

"We're not a great big organization, but we're a good organization," he said. "... Our focus is on customer service, quality, safety. That's pretty much what it is."

Artisan currently employs around 50 people. Frankum said many of them have been with the company for several decades, as have most of their customers.

Jennifer Smith Broeckling, a business broker with Murphy Business Sales in Cape Girardeau, helped facilitate the sale.

"(Frankum) cares about his customers so much that he sold his company before he had to ... because he wanted it to continue and go to the next level and grow," she said.

She added that Frankum hadn't wanted any interruption in service for his customers. Both Broeckling and Frankum determined the Woods would be the best fit to take over.

Gary Wood said he started Stryker Construction and other businesses from scratch, but that Artisan Contracting's work in the heavy-industrial field caught his eye.

His business philosophies and Frankum's, he added, matched up perfectly.

"The goal right now is to strengthen the base of what (Frankum) has created and ultimately grow the business," he said. "... Being that they're very focused on the customer experience, that's a big part of what I'd like to focus on."

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