Cavalier resident starts land improvement business
May 16—A Cavalier resident has launched a land improvement company, and is looking to leave his mark on the Red River Valley.
Brady Laxdal, a teacher and athletic coach, has begun work with his company Dakota Land Works, LLC, near Cavalier, N.D. Laxdal started the company with his wife Kristen, after having worked with the nonprofit business mentorship group SCORE, in Grand Forks. The company offers a number of improvement services from land clearing, to soil conditioning.
"I've always been an outdoors kind of person and I figured that if I was able to get a start on something like this that I would eventually take it," said Laxdal. "It ended up with the pandemic that I was able to get the ball rolling on it."
Laxdal worked with SCORE and the Red River Regional Council to create a business plan and secure financing to buy the needed equipment, including a compact track loader with a drum mulching attachment, skeleton grapple, brush mower, soil conditioner, tree puller and more.
Since launching his company, Laxdal said he has been working on different projects.
"I've been going steady, five days a week for about two and a half months," he said.
For Laxdal, the work isn't about clearing the land and leaving bare dirt behind. The work, he said, is about enriching the soil, preventing erosion and maintaining drainage, which ultimately preserves the quality of the land.
The business operates in northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota.
