Arden Kiefer started his company, Kiefer Welding, in 1973 as a welding repair shop in a small building with two portable welders. In 1974 Kiefer Welding, located in Kanawha, Iowa, became Kiefer Built, Inc.
In late 1974, Arden Kiefer made the decision to expand his repair business by breaking into the livestock trailer market. There were many trailers being manufactured in the southern United States and marketed in the Midwest. It seemed natural for a trailer builder to locate near the largest agricultural markets in the United States. Arden's bet was right. Kiefer Built pull-type livestock trailers soon gained popularity because of their quality and rugged construction. Arden found that if you build a quality product and market it at a fair price, people would buy it. Arden's commitment to customer's satisfaction and to building a reputation as a quality minded company soon paid off. Over the next few years, many different sizes and models of livestock trailers were developed and marketed.
By the mid 1980's the company's manufacturing area had grown from 2,000 square feet to over 150,000 square feet at the Kanawha, Iowa, plant.
Since 1974, Kiefer Built's product lines have increased to include the following:
Steel livestock trailers
Aluminum livestock trailers
Steel horse trailers
Aluminum horse trailers
Aluminum living-quarters horse trailers
Steel-framed aluminum skinned horse trailers
Steel-framed aluminum skinned living-quarters horse trailers
Cargo trailers
The trailers are marketed over the entire United States and in Canada. Kiefer Built has shipped to Belgium, Finland, Spain, Germany, and Puerto Rico.
The Kiefer Built trailers are well respected throughout the United States for their features and quality. The sizes of horse trailers range from a two-horse bumper-pull trailer to eight-horse slant-load living quarter trailers. Cargo and livestock trailers range in size from 8 feet to 30 feet in length.
In 1989 Arden Kiefer decided to expand manufacturing area by adding a new division in Ames, Iowa. The Ames division, known as Kiefer Industrial, manufactures trailers for the gas and electric utility companies, agricultural companies, construction contractors, and other commercial companies.
The Ames division has continued to expand its markets and trailer types. Currently, the Ames facility manufactures the following trailers:
Flatbed trailers for agriculture and commercial uses
Reel trailers for cable
Reel trailers for flexible pipeline
Dumpster trailers for landscapers and similar jobs
Utility trailers for hauling skid-loaders and similar equipment
Kiefer Built, Inc. employs over 130 employees at the Kanawha location and 50 employees at the Ames facility. The jobs range from steel and aluminum welding to painting and wiring trailers.