In the 1930s, Swedish immigrant Erick LaVine with the help of Walter Carlson established Victor Carlson & Sons in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Erick worked his entrepreneurial skills to build a construction business that would last for generations to come. Erick was a well-known developer and home builder. He was a respected member of the community and co-founded Opportunity Workshop, a program that helped handicapped adults. Walter was a concrete and masonry contractor whose sidewalks paved the way to some of the City’s most culturally significant landmarks – like the Minneapolis Institute of Art.”
— 1930
“
Walter Carlson Buys the Company
Then in 1941, Walter Carlson bought out his partner and renamed the company Carlson-LaVine Inc. He became president and chief executive officer.”
— 1941
“
Retirement
Walter Carlson retires.”
— 1944
“
Saint Mary’s Hospital
As the markets grew and evolved, the company expanded into other markets. In the 1950s, they added tennis courts and snowplowing. During this time, Carlson-Lavine also began a wonderful partnership with Saint Mary’s Hospital, which is now known as M Health Fairview Clinic – Riverside.”
— 1950
“
Growth Toward New Markets
In the 1960s, Carlson-LaVine continued to build their expertise in new markets including healthcare and financial projects. CL worked with Midwest Federal Savings & Loan. In Fridley, CL constructed a large development of over 30 acres where streets where named after the planets. During this decade, CL also worked on projects including concrete bases for basin bins, gas stations (such as Amoco and Phillips 66), and a large portion of work at Midwest Federal. Midwest Federal included multiple branches and corporate tower downtown (12 stories). There was so much ongoing work the Midwest Federal that CL had an office downtown right near the corporate tower. ”
— 1960
“
A Little About Tom
Tom came from a hard-working midwestern family with roots in farming. His father was an electrician, but his true love was his farm in New Prague, MN. Tom got his hard work ethic from his father. He studied industrial technology, building, and construction at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and started his career as an intern at Glanton Construction, the largest minority-owned construction company in the Twin Cities during the 1970s. As his first experience as an estimator and project manager, Tom was given a great deal of freedom to learn on the job in very practical settings. This gave Tom a great opportunity to gain a skillset that would be used early and often in his career with Carlson-LaVine.”
— 1970
“
Tom Joins Carlson-LaVine
In 1983, Tom Shamp joined Carlson-LaVine. Tom shared Carlson and LaVine’s values and work ethic, and he worked very hard to earn their trust. Tom Shamp had the wonderful opportunity to be mentored by a very respected individual in the industry, Matt Mulvihill who was the president at that time. Tom worked closely with Matt on all his projects. Matt was very ethical, an excellent estimator, and talented at his job. Matt started his career as a foreman carpenter for Erick and worked his way up through the ranks to become the first president who was not a family member at Carlson-LaVine.”
— 1983
“
Tom Purchases Carlson-LaVine
On March 1 of 1995, Tom Shamp purchased Carlson-LaVine and continues to serve as its president today.”
— 1995
“
Who We Are Now
We are committed to providing a first class construction experience. This commitment has created multiple individual client relationships of over 50 years. Our history, our longevity, and most importantly the care that we put into each project, is what convinces one client after another to rely on us. We pride ourselves on providing solutions on through out the construction process. We can provide a first class construction experience because we have a collaborative, methodical approach and the best professionals in the industry to execute our approach. ”
”
”