In 1968, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from North Park University in Chicago before returning to Salina.
Soon after he returned, the foundry manager of his father's agricultural manufacturing business, Roberts Industries, resigned.
[2] The sale of Roberts Industries prompted Applequist to found his own farm equipment business, Great Plains Manufacturing, on April 1, 1976.
He originally started it in the same building where his father's business formed, but moved operations to Assaria, Kansas in 1979.
[2] In 1982, Applequist started a trucking division of Great Plains Manufacturing to deliver the company's products and transport raw materials.