Kent Kuehn – Built to Last

A Small-Town Start

If you ask Kent Kuehn how he ended up at Morrison-Maierle, the story involves a paintbrush, a newspaper ad, and a father willing to hand-deliver a job application.

It’s a fitting origin story for someone who’s spent three decades embracing hands-on work, creative problem-solving, and an unwavering commitment to doing things the right way.

Growing up in Columbus, Montana, Kent had the kind of small-town childhood that many dream about: roaming freely with his brother, riding bikes until dark, and swimming with friends. “My parents were blue-collar folks,” he says. “They taught us the value of honesty and hard work.”

Inspired by his older brother’s Griz football-playing roommate, a starstruck Kent packed his bags to attend the University of Montana. After realizing UM was the wrong fit—but not before cementing himself as a lifelong Griz fan—he transferred to Northern Montana College and earned a degree in drafting.

While he had fleeting thoughts of architecture or engineering early on, he says, “If I’m honest, I’m probably doing exactly what I was meant to do.”

The Right Place at the Right Time

After graduating from Northern Montana, Kent worked at a small firm in Great Falls, hoping to return to the Billings area. One chance outing changed everything. With no plans for the weekend, Kent volunteered to help a coworker paint his house.

During their lunch break, his coworker spotted a want ad in the newspaper for a CAD Drafter position in Morrison-Maierle’s Billings office and mentioned it to Kent. The ad closed that week. With no time to mail in a resume, his father delivered the application by hand. Kent came down for a Saturday interview and, before he knew it, had a job offer in hand. He joined Morrison-Maierle in the fall of 1994.

Learning on the Fly

He was initially hired to support a major MDT highway project. But when that project was put on hold, he pivoted quickly into airport work, shifting between highways and airports for the next ten years. “It was like being bilingual,” he recalls. “I used AutoCAD for airports and Microstation for highways. Gene Wasia and Bob Beckman kept me busy, and I learned a lot in a hurry.”

For the first decade, Kent worked strictly in the office, focusing on drafting and design. But when workloads shifted, he had the opportunity to join the survey crew in the field. That experience was a turning point.

“Seeing how the design translated in the field made me a much better designer,” he says. He credits surveyor Kent Sielbach for expanding his understanding of fieldwork, constructability, and design theory. “It was always fun introducing ourselves to contractors as ‘Kent and Kent.’”

From Blueprints to Blacktop

Kent’s ability to toggle between deep technical knowledge and hands-on practicality made him an asset on countless projects. He remembers a few standouts:

• The Grand Avenue Reconstruction in 1999. This project was a major safety improvement for the city of Billings, lowering a steep hill in a busy intersection by more than 4 feet.
• The Runway Rehabilitation at the Billings Logan International Airport in 2013. A high-pressure project, the schedule was set up so each airline was allowed one flight out on Friday morning before paving started for the weekend. For six weekends straight, the team worked around the clock to ensure the runway was plane-ready by Sunday evening. Often, they’d immediately pivot from there to travel to work at the airport in Cody, Wyoming.
• BIL Terminal Expansion in 2020. A project that increased the concourse holding rooms from five to eight. This project included new boarding bridges, aircraft layout, scanning and modeling the existing concourse, relocating TSA, new restrooms, aircraft ramp, utilities, and amenities for the flying public.

Built on Principles

Throughout his career, Kent has prioritized quality and client service. One of Gene Wasia’s earliest lessons stuck with him: “At the end of the day, what matters is the product we deliver to the client. Even if it costs us time or money, we do it right.”

That mindset—representative of integrity, one of our core values—has made Kent not only a trusted technical expert but also a mentor. While he’s loosely mentored many over the years, he’s currently helping train Dylan Mahoney and Willis Brangers on CAD and Civil 3D.

He says, “People call and ask, ‘Can we share screens? Can you walk me through this?’ I love helping people do their jobs more efficiently.”

He recently authored a guest feature to share a custom CAD process he developed—one that improved consistency, saved time, and simplified a major workflow. After the article ran, eight engineers reached out to enable the feature. “I didn’t want to gatekeep it,” he says. “If it helps, it’s worth sharing.”

Family First

Outside the office, Kent is a devoted family man and a proud Griz fan. He met his wife, Marci, in 1998 and became a stepfather to two daughters, now in their 30s. “I became a grandpa at 40,” he says with a smile. “But I’d rather be a young grandparent than a super old one.”

He and his wife host weekly family dinners, and Kent cooks favorites like ribs, brisket, and pulled pork. His grandkids call him Papa and have jokingly suggested he open “Big Papa’s Bar and Grill” with the slogan, “Never trust a skinny cook!”

Kent’s creativity doesn’t stop in the kitchen. He loves tinkering with his ’69 Chevy pickup that he bought from his dad, and he builds furniture and cabinetry in his garage workshop.

What’s Changed—and What Hasn’t

After 30 years with Morrison-Maierle, Kent has seen nearly everything evolve: CAD software, machine-controlled equipment, and the growing role of women in engineering.

“When I started, it was rare to see women in this field.” After working under Heather Mosser, who he describes as a great leader and the type of boss that makes you want to do good work, he says, “That’s changed for the better.”

He goes on to explain that “Heather motivates people in the right way. She inspires you to do better because you don’t want to let her down.”

As for the future? He says, “With AI coming on, I hope I’m retired before it completely takes over!”

Despite the changes, some things have stayed constant: the value of hard work, a drive for continuous learning, and the satisfaction of seeing a well-built project come to life. “Do it right, and do it for the client,” Kent says. “That’s what matters.”