Welcome to our new and improved website!
About IST
Our Experience
IST represents some of the very best fabrication and manufacturing service providers in the business today. We have over twenty years of experience in both the operations and engineering side of manufacturing and project execution. Our experience gives us a dynamic team of professionals who are ready to assist you. We can provide individual and tailored services for all your needs.
Our Location
The headquarters of IST is in Tonganoxie, KS. Our location in the heartland of the country gives us easy access to support businesses in the Midwest, the nation, and across the globe.
Our Leadership Team
Industry Experts
Travis Papenberg, Owner
Travis has extensive knowledge in Industrial Maintenance, Operations, and Engineering, and has studied PSM, CMMS, TPM and Leadership Management. As a Plant Engineer and Corporate Director, Travis has designed, managed, and executed construction capital projects valued in excess of 150 million dollars. He brings an extensive background in lean manufacturing, preventative and predictive maintenance, process flow, yield recovery, and plant-wide mechanical operations.
Frank Papenberg, Sr., VP of Sales and Business Development
Frank has 20 plus years of Executive oversight in the fields of Operations and Engineering for the Protein and Food Industry. He has led many major projects and new builds in large Protein facilities across the U.S. surpassing a billion dollars of investment combined during his continued career. In addition to Sales and Business Development for IST, he also focuses on Engineering and Operations Analysis, Food Safety application and Labor savings for our customers.
Keith Townsend, AVP of Engineering
Keith has over twenty years of experience in the industry, as well as a fifteen-year relationship installing equipment for Frontmatec. Over the course of his career, Keith has led and organized the installation and execution of several large projects. As an operations manager, Keith also played a role in bidding jobs and directing crew leaders. He has a great deal of experience in the pork industry, in which he led the install of three new cut floors. Keith also has twenty-five years of piping experience.
Jason Martin, AVP of Sales and Business Development
Jason has over a decade of Business Development, Marketing, Sales & Leadership experience in the food and pet food manufacturing industries. His experience in these industries has taken him across Canada, South America, and the United States. He has extensive knowledge of capital equipment, consumable parts and process manufacturing.
Ryan Fore, AVP of Operations
Ryan has over a decade of experience in contracting and sales in the beef industry. His experience includes the installation of Cryovac and Formax machines, fabricating and installing conveyor systems, concrete process, and operating heavy equipment. Ryan is also well versed in ground-up building installation, managing crews, and oversight.
Brent Lathrom, Chief Financial Officer
Brent has over 25 years of experience in financial services. Prior to joining IST, Brent held senior level positions as a Commercial Loan Officer and has extensive knowledge in Commercial Real Estate, C&I Lending, SBA Loans and Leasing. He has a B.S. in Business Administration with a degree in Finance from Kansas State University and an MBA from Baker University. Brent is responsible for the financial management and business strategy for Berg Holdings and its subsidiaries.
Jeremy has over 25 years experience in pork processing facilities, with 17 of those years being in management. He has extensive knowledge in the operations of facilities.
Andrea Novotney, Corporate Business Unit Manager
