Karen Fagg is a longtime business owner who has overseen the growth of one of Montana’s largest engineering firms, HKM Engineering. But, she says, she didn’t do it alone.

“You have to build a team,” Fagg said. “The most exciting part for me of building a team and being a part of that team was seeing other peoples’ success. That’s what’s business is about: not running a business, it’s building a team and letting that team flourish.” 

Today, she serves the firm’s majority owner and its retired president. She owes much of her success to taking risks, she said.

“Taking those risks is why I think I was ultimately able to own my own business,” Fagg said. “But, if you never take a risk, you’re never given the opportunity. You’re never going to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. And you’re never going to have successes if you don’t take risks.”

Fagg has more than 20 years of business leadership and management experience, including eight years as president, chief executive officer, and chairman of her own company, as well as knowledge and experience acquired through her service on a number of Montana state and community boards.

She served four years as director of the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which serves a critical role in the water adjudication process in conjunction with the MT Water Court and She currently serves on the Board of MDU Resources Group Inc.

Past board involvements include chairing the Billings Chamber of Commerce Board as well as ZooMontana and the Charles M. Bair Family Trust. She has also been a board member for Billings Catholic Schools, First Interstate Bank System Foundation, Montana Justice Foundation, and both Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare.

Fagg’s Montana Business Hall of Fame nominator said: “Karen has demonstrated the ability to run a successful business in a very competitive industry. She is involved in for- and non-profit boards, and donates her time and money to causes she believes in. She is very civic minded and has supported community economic development efforts both personally and through her company.”

As Fagg looks back on her career, she said she thinks the common sense lessons are the most important lessons.

“You have to find your passion, work very hard, and then find mentors—ones that are willing to critique you, let you make mistakes and help you grow from those mistakes.”

She, and her husband Judge Russell Fagg, have twin children, Harrison and Barclay.