Congratulations to Kaufman Constructions & Development, Inc. for receiving the EDC’s Spark Lifetime Achievement Award. Kaufman has been integral to economic development in Thurston County for more than 50 years, bringing new businesses to our market and helping others grow.
The company was founded in Thurston County in 1965, originally as Kaufman Brothers Construction, Inc., by brothers Vic and Marvin Kaufman. Since then the firm’s footprint has grown to a five-county area and their team has expanded to include three generations. Leadership today includes John Kaufman serving as president and Jeff Kaufman and Theresa Kaufman Wall serving as vice presidents.
Over the decades the company’s philosophy has remained the same — “Stay the course, produce a good product, and meet the needs of your clients” – and this has served them well. Case in point, since the economic downturn of 2007 they have lowered their vacancy rate from 30% to less than 3%.
As commercial developers, Kaufman’s services include design-build, development, construction and leasing. They have enjoyed long-lasting working relationships with their local sub-contractors, and collaborate with owners to get every detail of each project right from start to finish. “We are committed to this community,” says Theresa. “This is where we planted our feet, where our roots are.”
A few key Kaufman projects include: Ice Chips Candy in Tumwater, Volkswagen of Olympia, Olympia Veterinary Cancer Center, Northwest Helicopter and Setina Manufacturing Company’s expansion.
Deschutes Industrial Park in Tumwater, off of 79th Avenue SE, is another project of which they’re particularly proud. It’s the home of Alaffia, Port Blakely Tree Farms and Simpson Door Company. It also includes the three building Deschutes Landing project, with a tenant mix of Ila’s Foods, 8 Arms Bakery, Matchless Brewing Company, Triceratops Brewing Company, and a youth basketball training facility called 90Ten.