Nate Samp didn’t always want to work in construction, but he’s always admired his dad.

“I didn’t grow up planning to do construction,” Samp said with a laugh during an interview. “When I was younger, I didn’t necessarily like the idea of doing that the rest of my life, but I always wanted to be like my dad growing up. So, once I kind of got older and grew up a little bit, I said, ‘You know, I do kind of like this,’ and stuck with it.”

Samp, a graduate of Iowa Lakes Community College, now co-owns Samp Construction in Algona with his dad. On top of that, in just over a month he’ll open Wausau Homes Custom Home Design Studio, 2512 Highway Blvd. in Spencer.

Wausau Homes, based out of Wausau, Wisc., is a custom home design company that partners with independent builders, such as Samp Construction, in eight states, including Iowa and Minnesota. Nate Samp is overseeing the studio in Spencer, which will carry the Wausau Homes brand and its design and construction processes.

“Going through school and completing OEI, I kind of began to realize that, essentially, what I wanted to do, wanted to be, was an entrepreneur.”

Samp is an Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute alum, having completed the course in 2013, and also a sponsor for OEI 2017.  The OEI experience helped “put the foundation in place” for becoming a business owner.

“I thought it was one of the best things that was available to me through school,” he said. “It all kind of wrapped up the schooling and putting it together and really gave you a good test on what you learned.”

Growing up in Algona, Samp was often found at job sites. His dad started Tim Samp Construction in 1990.

“Since I was old enough to be around a job site, I’ve pretty much been hanging around there, helping clean up and keep things organized, being an extra hand,” Samp said. “It was something I did every summer, especially by the time I was in high school.”

The company was reformed as Samp Construction in 2010 when Nate started working even more with the company. He graduated from Iowa Lakes Community College’s construction and management programs in 2014, then really dove into the family business.

“Going through school and completing OEI, I kind of began to realize that, essentially, what I wanted to do, wanted to be, was an entrepreneur,” Samp said. “To be able to kind of control my own schedule, my own destiny. And construction is something that I love. I grew up in it, I understand it and it’s a really rewarding field. But being an entrepreneur in general is kind of what drives me.”

Though he’s from Algona, Samp has strong ties to the lakes area that extend beyond his education.

“I’ve been wanting to grow our business into this region for a long time, pretty much since I started getting into it,” Samp said. “I’ve always loved this area. I’ve spent a lot of time up here, especially through the summer. I was always working toward getting something over here and that’s what Wausau Homes has kind of allowed us to do.”

Samp has also remained in touch with his OEI host family, Bruce and LuAnn Tamisiea.

“I contact Bruce on a pretty regular basis, just to talk to him and get his opinion on something, get him caught up on what we’ve got going on, see what advice he’s got – and he’s always got tons of questions for me and makes me think about things that I haven’t given thought to,” he said.

Samp’s Wausau Home studio in Spencer will have a grand opening in early June.

 

A version of this article was first published by Lakes Business News.