Some people choose their industry. Others grow up inside it. For Steven Hansen, Principal at ThermalCraft, cold storage construction was never a career decision. It was simply the world he was raised in, and the trade he has spent his adult life refining.
His father, Steve Hansen Sr., founded Hansen Cold Storage Construction out of Vernon, California, in 1989. By the time Steven joined the company in 2013, Hansen Cold had spent more than two decades building a reputation across the West Coast and beyond, one cooler, one freezer, one relationship at a time. What Steven learned wasn’t just technical construction knowledge. It was a standard of craftsmanship and a way of doing business that still influences how he approaches every project today
Growing Up in the Cold Storage Industry
Steve Hansen Sr. built his company on straightforward principles: compete honestly, deliver what you promise, and protect the relationships that keep work coming back. From its base in Vernon, the company grew into a full-service cold storage contractor serving food processing facilities, distribution centers, freezers, coolers, and processing rooms across California and into Arizona, Nevada, Washington, and well beyond the West Coast.
Steven grew up watching that business take shape. Job sites were familiar territory long before he was old enough to carry a tool bag. By the time he studied at Pepperdine University and returned to the family company in 2013, he had already absorbed the craft and culture his father instilled in the company in a way no training program can replicate.
The job was never just about walls and schedules. It was about people, trust, and follow-through.
That perspective, grounded in field observation and shaped by his father’s example, became the foundation of Steven’s own professional identity. For a decade, father and son worked side by side across the country, delivering projects with the kind of dependable execution and handshake values that are increasingly rare in large-scale commercial construction.
Building a Career at Hansen
Steven’s role at Hansen Cold Storage Construction went well beyond family connection. He worked as a field laborer, superintendent, project manager, and estimator, developing the technical depth and client-facing skills that define effective cold storage construction leadership.
His scope at his former employer covered the full range of work the company was known for at the time: new coolers and freezers, exterior panels, food processing rooms, distribution centers, validated pharmaceutical storage environments, and general construction. Projects ranged from minor repairs and door replacements to facilities exceeding 500,000 square feet.
One milestone stands out. Steven led the IMP subcontract scope on what became one of the largest box-in-box cold storage projects ever built in the United States, delivered by ARCO National Construction, a technically demanding achievement that required precision coordination across thermal envelope design, refrigeration integration, and structural engineering. It is the kind of project that defines a career.
He also deepened his industry engagement once elected to the Board of Directors for the Controlled Environment Building Association (CEBA), the trade body that sets standards and drives professional development across the temperature-controlled construction sector. That commitment to the industry, not just the company, reflects the seriousness with which he approaches the trade.
The Acquisition of Hansen Cold Storage in 2023
In 2023, Hansen Cold Storage Construction was acquired. For Steven, it was a significant moment, a chapter closing after more than three decades of family-built history and a decade of his own contributions alongside his father.
The acquisition was a milestone by any measure. It validated the business his father had built from the ground up in Vernon and reflected the value of what a family-owned, relationship-driven cold storage contractor can become over thirty-plus years of consistent delivery.
In 2023, Hansen Construction was acquired. A major milestone, and the close of a chapter I’ll always be proud of. But I wasn’t finished building.
That drive to keep building is what defines what came next.
Why Steven Hansen Joined ThermalCraft
ThermalCraft was founded in January 2024 by Dean Soll, a 34-year industry veteran who had previously built and sold two companies, SubZero Constructors and TrueCore Insulated Panels. When Dean began planning the future for ThermalCraft, he extended an invitation to Steven to partner up and strive to become the country’s strongest duo.
The match made sense. Dean brought decades of thermal construction experience, IMP Manufacturing, and a best-in-class business mind. Steven proved during his time at Hansen Cold Storage Construction that he had the ability to manage large-scale cold storage construction from estimating through installation completion.
Together, alongside Dennis Pack, Gavin Lowery, and Evan Dahl, they set out to build something the California cold storage market lacked: a thermal envelope specialty partner with clarity in its delivery model, consistency in its execution, and leadership that is actually involved in the projects that are being built.
What Steven Hansen Brings to ThermalCraft Today
Steven operates as a Founding Principal at ThermalCraft, based in Santa Ana, California, and serves as a key point of contact for general contractors, developers, and facility owners navigating complex cold storage construction projects in California and across the country.
His value to clients is specific. He understands cold storage construction from the inside out, from the thermal behavior of insulated metal panel assemblies to the scheduling pressures that make or break a protein processing plant opening date. Across his career, he has managed envelope-critical work from estimating through installation completion across a wide range of facility types.
That background directly supports ThermalCraft’s work across California and the United States. Whether the project involves a new cold storage warehouse construction for a regional logistics provider, a purpose-built cold room construction project for a specialty food producer, or a complex insulated metal panel installation for a multi-temperature facility, Steven’s envelope expertise spans the full scope.
His continued service on the CEBA Board of Directors also keeps ThermalCraft connected to the leading edge of industry standards, code developments, and material innovations that affect how the company specifies and installs every project.
The Values Steven Brings to ThermalCraft
What is most notable about Steven’s transition to ThermalCraft is not the change. It is the continuity. The values his father instilled- competing honestly, delivering what you promise, and protecting the relationships that keep work coming back- continue to guide Steven’s work as a Principal at ThermalCraft.
Cold storage construction in California has changed considerably since 1989. Facilities are larger, regulatory requirements are more demanding, and clients expect energy-conscious envelope detailing alongside precise installation. But the fundamentals that make a cold storage contractor worth trusting have not changed at all. Steven Hansen knows exactly what those fundamentals are, because he grew up watching a master of the trade live by them every day.
Work with a Team That Knows Cold Storage Construction from the Ground Up
ThermalCraft’s principals bring the kind of experience that only comes from spending careers in the industry, not studying it. If you are a general contractor, developer, or facility operator in California looking for a thermal envelope partner who will self-perform with precision and accountability, we would like to hear about your project.
Explore our cold storage contractor solutions, learn about our food and beverage cold storage capabilities, or contact Steven and the ThermalCraft team directly to start the conversation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Steven Hansen is a Principal at ThermalCraft, based in Santa Ana, California. He works with general contractors, developers, and facility owners on cold storage envelope and IMP installation projects across California and nationally, bringing more than 15 years of direct project management and estimating experience.
ThermalCraft self-performs thermal envelope and insulated metal panel installation across a range of project types in California, including cold storage warehouse construction, food processing facility construction, cold room construction, meat processing plant envelope construction, and data centre thermal envelope work.
CEBA, the Controlled Environment Building Association, is the primary trade body for the temperature-controlled construction industry in the United States. Steven Hansen serves on CEBA’s Board of Directors, contributing to the development of industry standards and keeping ThermalCraft connected to the latest material innovations and regulatory developments that affect cold storage construction practice.
ThermalCraft serves clients across California as a statewide cold storage and thermal construction specialist, including Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, the San Joaquin Valley, the Bay Area, Sacramento, and San Diego. The company’s procurement and logistics network is built specifically for California’s supply chain geography, and its principals, including Steven Hansen, have delivered envelope projects across the state throughout their careers.