president and CEO
Kaufman Lynn Construction
Services
FINALIST
Michael I. Kaufman
president and CEO
Kaufman Lynn Construction
Mike Kaufman did not start Kaufman Lynn Construction under the best of circumstances. He was a father of four who suddenly found himself out of work and needing a job to support his family.
His first step was to dust off his tools from college and begin taking odd jobs for homeowners as he simultaneously looked for an opportunity to break into the commercial side of the construction industry.
He got an offer to perform as a subcontractor which he took eagerly, but it required him to take out a personal loan from his mother-in-law in order to pay his crew and purchase supplies. But through hard work and skillful management of cash flow, he was able to leverage that first commercial project into other opportunities and steadily build the scope and scale of his projects.
As president and CEO at Kaufman Lynn Construction, Kaufman sees the ability to track and understand costs as a core competency of the business and a contributing factor in the company’s ability to weather economic downturns. During the recession, it allowed him to take his profits and reinvest them into developing new market sectors that would help the company.
As other contractors were laying off employees, Kaufman took advantage of the newly available talent pool.
One of the most important goals for Kaufman was to build a business that is sustainable with sound practices and processes and a willingness to adapt on a job-by-job basis.
As a result, Kaufman has built a company that is viewed from the outside as available, adaptable and accountable for everything it does. It enables Kaufman Lynn to compete against the biggest and the best contractors in the country.
But there’s always room for more improvement, so Kaufman encourages his employees to further their skills and pursue training that can help them get even better at what they do. The hope is to develop leaders that will ensure the company’s success for years to come.
How to reach: Kaufman Lynn Construction, www.kaufmanlynn.com
