Meet Kim

Kim Kohlhepp was raised in DuBois, PA with her mom and dad, Dan and Donna Kohlhepp, and her two sisters, Kaydee (Kohlhepp) Gunter and Joanne (Kohlhepp) Bish. Holidays were celebrated with her grandparents, and their many cousins who were close by. Her family has been in the area since the early 1800s, with the Moore’s settling in Luthersburg, the Kohlhepp’s in Rochester Mills, the Barrett’s in Curwensville, the Bloomgren’s in Ridgway, and the Hayes’ in Force. They served their communities as farmers, doctors, shopkeepers, soldiers, teachers, and business leaders. Kim has always appreciated and respected her family history, and these deep roots give her a special connection with the area.

A black and white photo of a large, old, two-story house with a porch, surrounded by leafless trees. In front of the house, a horse is tied to a fence, and two children are standing nearby.
Three women standing outdoors in winter, wearing warm clothing, with snow on the ground and trees in the background.
Black and white photo of a two-story wooden building with a wraparound porch. Several men in period clothing stand on the porch and steps. A horse and wagon are parked in front.

Kim grew up hunting with her dad and uncles (Ben Kohlhepp and Andy Kohlhepp). When she was only 10, she started competing in hunt tests as a Jr. AKC dog handler. Together, Kim and their springer spaniel Rusty, won ribbons in both Junior Hunter and Senior Hunter levels. At deer camp she was the only girl and wore makeup to the deer stand, but was known for being a single shot, never needing a second attempt to take down a deer. It has been a tradition to go chucker hunting the day after Thanksgiving, but clay pigeons are often swapped out as a more reliable “bird”.  Although she now prefers to spend those cold winter days cozied up on the couch watching Hallmark movies, her husband has enthusiastically jumped in to fill her spot. Kim has a great appreciation for the sport and as State Representative, she will protect and defend the hunting tradition.

A young girl wearing an orange hat and a pink jacket, smiling and standing outdoors on gravel, with a black and white dog sitting beside her.
Young girl hunting with a shotgun in an outdoor setting, wearing an orange hunting vest and cap, with a forested background.
Three people standing outdoors in front of a beige building, dressed in casual and camouflage clothing, smiling at the camera.

Kim followed in her sisters’ footsteps and played soccer through school, and added lacrosse and field hockey varsity letters. In the summers she would golf with her parents and grandparents at the DuBois Country Club, and went to Penn State Golf Camp three years in a row. There were never more than 2 or 3 girls at camp and one year she was the only one! That never fazed her though and she could swing and score with the best of them. Staking the flag for women’s sports has been a family tradition. Her older sister Kaydee and their cousin Julia (Kohlhepp) Gallegos started the first girls golf team at DuBois Area High School in 1996! Kim understands the importance of women’s sports and how best to support their athletic achievements and opportunities.

A patch featuring a black dog in front of a red background with white and black outlines, and a gold-colored pin attached to the lower right part of the patch.
A large blue fabric letter M with white border and two small metallic golf club pins attached at the top left and right.

After high school, Kim decided to be the black sheep of the family and chose Ohio University over Penn State to pursue her bachelor’s degree. She says that after moving her sisters in and out of apartments all over campus and living in those same dorms for golf camp, she wanted a new campus to explore. While at OU, she was active in her Delta Zeta sorority and served as Team Recruitment Chair for the Relay for Life committee.

She was also a founding member of the local chapter for the Zienzele Foundation, a program that provides micro-loans to women entrepreneurs in Southern Africa and connects them to global trade markets. Kim graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology in 2010.

Group of people with a mascot lion in the center, outdoors on steps, some wearing red shirts with awareness message.
Group photo of sorority sisters at bid day 2007, wearing white shirts with 'Pink' written on them, outside house with balloons and decorations.

After graduating from college, Kim applied to the Peace Corps hoping to serve in Malawi like her grandparents, Doug and Jackie Kohlhepp. The application and assignment process took months. During that time, her cousin, and DuBois Central Catholic alum, Ben Kunkle found her temp jobs in Washington D.C. She ended up in a property management role that sparked her interest and career in commercial real estate. Kim was fascinated by the big construction projects and neighborhood developments going on and knew she needed to continue her education and strengthen her financial acumen to jump into that side of the industry. She enrolled in the Johns Hopkins University Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure program and graduated in 2014. She was lucky enough to have her father as a professor, but even luckier that he wasn’t allowed to grade her assignments, knowing full-well that he would have been harder on her than anyone else.

A woman wearing green leggings, a white jacket, and a white cap runs on a paved road during a race with a mountainous landscape in the background.

While living in Washington D.C. Kim started running as the fastest way to see all the monuments. She recalls, “I experienced a sense of awe and gratitude at each memorial honoring our national heroes, including presidents, trailblazers, and soldiers who fought to create and defend our democracy and this great nation”. Kim continues to visit America’s landmarks by running in races across the United States, most recently completing a half-marathon in Mt. Zion National Park. Kim is ready to focus that energy to advocate for hard-working Pennsylvania families and protect our shared American values.

Throughout her career, Kim has worked with both big corporations and small businesses. Kim is the founder of Nestwood LLC, a consulting firm that assists clients with proposal writing, market analysis, and building their “business infrastructure” (i.e. standard operating procedures for accounting and administrative tasks). Her clients have included large real estate companies, a green roof start-up company, and a family owned and operated Kampground of America (KOA). She worked for Kimco Realty supporting over a billion dollars of assets and development projects. More recently she worked with her family at DuBois Granite and Quartz.

Now she is the Vice President at Kohlhepp Corporation, a family real estate company started by her father almost 50 years ago. Having been exposed to a breadth of company sizes and industries, Kim is acutely aware of the unique issues businesses face relative to their size and the important role each plays in our economy. She firmly believes that government regulations and policies cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach. Kim will work with our business leaders to better understand their needs and push for policies and reforms to grow and strengthen our local industries.

A man and woman sitting at a table with stacks of books titled 'Real Estate Development Matrix', signing papers. The woman is wearing a red sweater, and the man is wearing a dark suit jacket. They are smiling at the camera.

Kim currently lives in DuBois with her husband, Bryan Wood. Sharing a passion for passenger rail service, their third date was a 19-hour train ride from Baltimore to Chicago to attend their friends’ wedding. They knew that at the end of the trip they would either never speak again or be in love. Luckily, it was the latter. Bryan and Kimberly married in 2019.

They adopted their dog, Peppa, from the Elk County Humane Society in 2021. While she is not a hunting dog, they still enjoy taking her for walks in the woods, and love her just the same.

A happy couple sitting on the floor with their dog in front of a Christmas tree inside a cozy living room.

Bryan has a Bachelor of Art degree in U.S. History, with a Minor in Terrorism and Critical Infrastructure from the University of Maryland. He now works as a government contractor supporting the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

Kim and her family continue their big Thanksgiving traditions and have even added some new ones; Bryan now hosts a cocktail tasting to share his love of history and expert mixology skills. Bryan and Kim continue to explore the world together, but both agree that this is the best place to call home!

Kim is excited to be a champion for our region and stand up for Central Pennsylvania families! She hopes that you will support her candidacy and vote for her to be the next State Representative for the 75th District in the upcoming 2026 election.