March 24, 2022

Former Sanford Health executive Micah Aberson is the new president of Mammoth Sports, a full-service design-build sports construction firm.

Kansas-based Mammoth has created a niche for itself in building fields and facilities for teams, from high schools through the NFL.

In the Sioux Falls area, Mammoth is building the 18 outdoor fields at the Sanford Sports Complex and has worked on projects for the athletic facilities at Augustana University and Aberdeen’s Northern State University.

“Sanford has been an important part of our story and really the Sioux Falls community and South Dakota has been a big part of our story in the last two to three years with our direction pulling us up north, trying to build a team and office up there,” said Jake Farrant, who founded the business and will remain CEO. “A major part of our focus was finding a leader. And what we originally thought was going to be a leader of our remote location in Sioux Falls ended up being a leader for our entire organization.”

Jake Farrant

Aberson spent six years at Sanford Health, most recently as executive vice president, before leaving the organization late last year. He previously was a partner at the marketing and advertising agency Lawrence & Schiller. He started his role at Mammoth on Monday.

“I wasted no time in saying, ‘Whenever you’re ready, I can’t want to have a conversation about what the next chapter is, and I’d love to be part of that,'” said Farrant, who said that as he got to know Aberson, he “really started to respect his way of doing business.”

Mammoth Sports is building the new turfed fields at the Sanford Sports Complex.

For his part, Aberson said he was drawn to the chance to help a business that’s already finding significant traction in the marketplace further accelerate its growth.

“They view the world in much the same way I do, which is a value on their families, their faith and on their communities, and they like to reinvest in all those,” Aberson said.

“I’m really drawn with Mammoth at the prospect of building something. I don’t mean that in a literal sense, from a construction standpoint, but it’s a young company that has grown significantly in the last couple years, and I think there are a lot of opportunities for me to bring my experiences to the table and help bring some structure to what they’re doing and help them navigate the explosive growth they’re experiencing.”

Farrant started the business in 2008 with his brother Bryce in their garage and began by clearing weeds and mowing grass at cemeteries.

From there, the brothers started traveling to take on contract work, which led to specialization in turf and major projects nationwide.

“It’s a classic story of American success,” Aberson said.

“There are probably hundreds of fields a year being done by Mammoth. It’s really a remarkable story, and that is only the tip of the spear as it relates to the true depth of what the company does.”

Mammoth has built fields and facilities for teams in the NFL, Big 10, SEC, Big 12, MIAA, NSIC, NAIA, GLVC, KCAC, Heart of America and Gulf South conferences, along with thousands of high schools. Since then, it has expanded and acquired services, including golf course construction, concrete products and supply, general construction, and architecture and engineering design. In 2021, it acquired a full-service marketing and creative services firm based in Kansas.

“There’s just so many different opportunities in sports construction and turf as you look across the country,” Aberson said. “I think it’s nearly limitless.”

Growth areas could include working with schools K-12 and even playgrounds using turf, all the way through golf course construction.

“I think that there’s yet to be several chapters of the book written on the story of Mammoth,” Aberson said. “That will always include sports construction, but there’s a lot of blue sky and a story yet to be told.”

Aberson will be based in Sioux Falls, where the company has about a dozen full-item professionals based out of an office at the Sanford Sports Complex. The workforce grows to more than 50 with seasonal workers, and the opportunity to expand further in the city is significant, Aberson said.

Mammoth is based in Meriden, Kansas, which is outside Topeka and recently expanded to Lenexa, outside Kansas City.

“I love South Dakota and it’s in my DNA, and my ability to be part of a really exciting organization but do so and contribute to the economic and employment base of the city and region and state is certainly a dream opportunity for me,” Aberson said.

“The ability to move into a market like Sioux Falls and hopefully attract great professional talent over time really lends itself to a pretty significant Sioux Falls-based workforce.”

Mammoth counts about 300 employees companywide.

“I truly believe the Mammoth that will exist a few years from now will be much different than the company that exists today,” Aberson said.