Maynard C. Akkerman, President, CEO,
Akkerman Inc.

Maynard Akkerman is president, chief executive officer and owner of Akkerman Inc., of Brownsdale, Minnesota, a worldwide leading manufacturer of Microtunneling, Earth Pressure Balance, Pipejacking, and Tunneling equipment.

Maynard started his career as a youth in his father’s sewer and water construction company and came on board full-time in 1973. His father, D.H. Akkerman developed his own line of pipejacking equipment and in 1973 launched Akkerman Manufacturing. From 1973-’87 Maynard worked in the field, on numerous tunneling and pipejacking projects as well as in the factory fabricating such equipment. In 1987, Maynard purchased the manufacturing business and renamed it Akkerman Inc. Under his leadership, the business has grown expeditiously. In 1995, Akkerman Inc. successfully introduced the first, and to date, only US manufactured microtunneling machine. Akkerman Inc. now manufactures four distinct lines of trenchless equipment, reports sales in most of the 50 states and abroad and employs 75 full-time employees.

Throughout his 35-year career, Maynard has cultivated many relationships in the tunneling industry. He is a current member and former board member of the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT) and has served on various committees. He was recently nominated to The Moles in May of 2009. He was a contributing member to a standards committee for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for microtunneling. He was named the 2003 Underground Construction MVP by the Gulf Coast Trenchless Association (GCTA). Additionally he has a longstanding rapport with the National Utility Contractor’s Association (NUCA) and Underground Construction Association of Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (UCA of SME). He was named Trenchless Technology man of the year in 2008 for his contribution to the industry.

* Courtesy Akkerman Inc.