Crete & Co. opens new Bemidji location, chamber celebrates growth
Crete & Co. was welcomed into its new Lakewood Drive NW site as the Bemidji contractor’s 30-plus person team kept expanding beyond its Peace Lane base.
Crete & Co. got a public welcome to its new Bemidji location on July 11, when Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce ambassadors congratulated the contractor at 1374 Lakewood Drive NW. The move gives one of Bemidji’s homegrown construction firms a more visible place in the city’s commercial landscape, with a new footprint that could matter for customer access, staffing and day-to-day visibility in a busy part of town.
The company says its growth has been steady since John Forseth founded Crete & Co. in 2015. Forseth, a Bemidji native and Bemidji High School graduate, built the business from a two-person operation into a team of more than 30 people serving residential and commercial customers across Northern Minnesota and beyond. That kind of expansion puts the chamber’s recognition in a practical context: this was not a start-up introduction, but a larger local contractor moving into a new stage of its business.
Crete & Co. is organized as Crete and Co LLC, which was filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State on Nov. 4, 2016 and is listed as active. Public directories had placed the business at 9694 Peace Ln NW in Bemidji, making the July 11 chamber visit to 1374 Lakewood Drive NW a clear sign that the company has shifted from its earlier local base to a new location.
The company’s website lists 218-766-0052 as its contact number and describes a range of work that includes stamped and decorative concrete, stairs and entryways, sidewalks, flooring, foundations and related concrete services. Those offerings position the company for both residential projects and larger commercial jobs, the kind of work that depends on crews, equipment and a visible operating base.
Midwest Builders Exchange lists John Forseth as president and owner, Jaret Lalli as operations manager, and Dominic Mapes and Collin Strain as estimators. Crete & Co.’s own team page names Jaret Lalli as vice president and also lists Steve Johanns and Caleb Manecke. Together, those listings show a business with a broader management structure than the small crew Forseth started with a decade ago.
A Crete & Co. video earlier in 2026 described the new shop as under construction and called it a major milestone for the company. The July 11 chamber welcome fit that pattern, turning a construction project into a public signal that Crete & Co. is deepening its presence in Bemidji rather than operating quietly on the edge of town.
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