History

In June of 1996 and in conjunction with the retirement of Mr. Kembel, the office of Kembel, Kosena & Company, Inc., replaced R.D. Kembel & Associates, Inc., with Kraig P. Kosena, MAI serving as President. Since 1996, Mr. Kosena has served two governor-appointed terms as Chairman of the Montana Board of Real Estate Appraisers. He has also served as a mentor to Larry T. Lund (Larry Lund General Certified Appraiser) and Thomas A. Faulkner (Creekstone Appraisal Services, Inc.). Kraig is currently providing mentorship and professional development to Megan L. Garland. Our firm is still in operation today, over 20 years later, in downtown Missoula.

R.D. Kembel & Associates, Inc. was the successor firm to Hoover/Kembel & Associates. This new office was the solely owned by Robert D. Kembel, MAI, President, from January 1978 through May 1996. During these years, Mr. Kembel provided mentorship to several appraisers who now operate their own firms in western Montana. These offices include Robert F. Wilson (RF Wilson & Associates), Steven A. Hall (Hall-Widdoss & Company, P.C.), Roy L. Nicolet (Nicolet Appraisal Company), and Kraig P. Kosena (Kembel, Kosena & Company, Inc.).

With the departure of Mr. Wilcox in November of 1975, Hoover/Kembel & Associates was formed. Richard Hoover, MAI, was joined by Robert D. Kembel, MAI, who had been trained in the office of Wilcox & Associates, Inc. Both Mr. Hoover and Mr. Kembel held positions as Partner.

Wilcox & Associates, Inc., a Seattle-based company, established a presence in Montana in the late 1960s, completing appraisal work in conjunction with the Interstate 90 right-of-way project. This, our founding company, was launched in 1960 by Donald A. Wilcox, MAI, SREA. From this time through October 1975, Donald functioned as President, with Richard I. Hoover, MAI, acting as Montana Manager.