Juli Kaufmann, a serial entrepreneur and president of Fix Development, a Milwaukee-based commercial real estate company, will be the recipient of the 2018 BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year Award.
With Fix Development, Kaufmann chooses real estate projects that create a positive cultural, social, environmental and economic impact.
Fix Development uses a place-based, market-driven Main Street redevelopment model that disrupts local commercial real estate and financing systems to support small local businesses that create entrepreneurial jobs, Kaufmann said.
Kaufmann has developed more than $25 million in real estate projects and is currently focused primarily in the Lindsay Heights, Sherman Park, Riverwest and Harambee Neighborhoods, often partnering with community members living in the neighborhoods.
She is currently working on several projects, including Sherman Phoenix with JoAnne Johnson-Sabir in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood. The $3.5 million project will convert a former BMO Harris bank branch into an entrepreneurial and wellness hub that will house about 20 businesses.
Kaufmann is also partnering with Riverwest business owner Carolyn Weber to purchase the former Centro del Nino School, 500 E. Center St., to open the city’s first hostel-style hotel.
In addition to Fix Development, Kaufmann is the co-founder of Fund Milwaukee, a local investment group that seeks to match unaccredited local investors with opportunities to support local entrepreneurs. The effort has raised more than $1 million in local capital to date, funding dozens of local businesses like Purple Door Ice Cream and The Tandem Restaurant.
Kaufmann serves as chair of the board of directors for 88.9 Radio Milwaukee. She is also a founder and board member of Bublr Bikes, Milwaukee’s startup bike-sharing system.
Previous recipients of the BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year Award have included: Wendy Baumann, the president and chief visionary officer of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp.; Paula Penebaker, president and chief executive officer of YWCA Southeast Wisconsin; Dr. Eve Hall, president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin; Nanette Gardetto, founder of Baptista’s Bakery Inc.; Maria Monreal-Cameron, former president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Wisconsin; Gail Lione, a former Harley-Davidson Inc. executive; and Cynthia LaConte, president and CEO of Dohmen.
The BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year Award will be presented to Kaufmann at the Women in Business breakfast at the BizExpo conference on Thursday, May 31, at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino.
The Women in Business breakfast will also include a panel discussion on leading through change. The panelists will include Margaret Farrow, former lieutenant governor; Kim Metcalf-Kupres, retired vice president and CMO of Johnson Controls; Coreen Dicus-Johnson, CEO and president of Network Health; and Laurie Benson, executive director, Nurses on Boards. The discussion will be moderated by Kimberly Kane of Kane Communications Group.
Click here to register to attend the Women in Business breakfast event.
