Kiefer Sage, a Northwest Arkansas holding company, began 40 years ago with a vision to help those with mobility needs and has since expanded into a multibrand manufacturing entity.
Erin Kiefer ’99 and ’05, owner and chairman, witnessed the company’s journey from humble beginnings in her father’s garage in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1983. Over the years, she saw it transform through key milestones, culminating in its consolidation and rebranding last year.
Kiefer’s father, Bill Sage, was an innovator and the founder of the company, first known as Sage Industries. Above all, Sage is a Christ follower. His servant heart led him to the idea that sparked the company’s creation.
Kiefer’s great-grandmother came to live with the family and needed senior care, which Kiefer’s mother provided. Whenever the family went to the grocery store, her great-grandmother couldn’t walk around the store and had to stay in the car.
“So my dad conceived this idea of an electric shopping cart that would provide mobility for my great-grandmother and people like her,” Kiefer said.
Kiefer still recalls the smell of welded metal drifting from the garage into the kitchen while her father worked on the first electric shopping cart prototype.
“I remember the excitement on his face when he had finished his first prototype for the Martcart, and he had it in the driveway,” she said. “The family rushed out there to see what he was doing, and he put me on his lap and drove me around the driveway on the first Martcart. And that was the beginning of an American success story.”
The introduction of the Martcart, the world’s first electric shopping cart, launched Kiefer Sage onto a path of growth. Building on this initial success, the business expanded to central pressure washing with Spraymaster, then moved into first responder vehicle solutions through Tenhold. With 40 years of experience, it later added Assembled Products for co-assembly services.
Despite Kiefer Sage’s apparent steady growth, Kiefer remains keenly aware of the challenges in daily business operations.
Sage intentionally founded the business on Christian values, seeking to further the kingdom of God by providing jobs, treating people with dignity and respect, and allowing the employees to have a family life.
“He prayed and asked the Lord, ‘God, I don’t want to do this if I have to burn the candle at both ends,’” Kiefer said.
Sage was adamant about only working 40 hours a week and making it home in time for dinner every night. That mindset was ingrained in the company culture and still persists to this day.
“There have been times we have kicked people out of the building at 5 o’clock,” Kiefer joked.
Proud of her father’s leadership, Kiefer joined the company at 14, answering phones, handling mail and helping with accounts.
Kiefer knew from a young age that she wanted to work full time in the family business. So, when she graduated from high school and considered her next steps for her future career, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business at John Brown University seemed like the perfect fit.
“I was sure [JBU] would provide a very good education, and it certainly did,” she said.
Kiefer remembers thinking in every class, “How am I going to be able to apply this to the family business?”
Kiefer believes in the value of education. She returned to JBU in 2004 for her MBA. There, she shifted from theory to practical business leadership.
“The leadership classes in the master’s program were very useful and gave me practical tips that I could apply in management,” she said.
Kiefer balanced full-time work, motherhood and earning her master’s degree.
With her degree, Kiefer took on more responsibilities at Kiefer Sage. Yet as her career advanced, the company faced headwinds, prompting her to question her future. In 2007, Sage considered selling the family business after experiencing stagnating sales.
“There’s a sense of pride and ownership when it is your family business,” Kiefer said. “And when it’s not [certain] anymore, I had to go to the Lord and say, ‘Okay, Lord, this is now uncertain … but not my will, yours be done.’”
The sale was paused when no adequate offers were received. Another attempt to sell 10 years later was also unsuccessful due to a lack of adequate offers.
In 2017, the Board of Directors voted to make Keifer president and CEO. Immediately after the vote, Sage went directly to his daughter and said, “If you want to run this, I won’t sell it.”
The first thing Keifer did was to identify leadership misalignment that was limiting innovation and hindering sales. Choosing to keep the company in Rogers, she refocused and unified the team, then led the company through a period of significant achievement: a 678% increase in net profit, a 250% boost in EBITDA — demonstrating stronger core operating profitability and efficiency — and improved employee retention.
In the past two years, as she took on the roles of chairman and owner, Kiefer embraced a new chapter — one driven by her commitment to uphold her father’s legacy with heart and vision, ensuring his spirit would guide the company’s future.
This article is from the summer 2026 edition of the Brown Bulletin. Access the full issue.
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