Bravo! Entrepreneur award
Juli Kaufmann
President
Fix Development LLC
Milwaukee
www.fixdevelopment.com
Employees: 1
For Juli Kaufmann, work is about more than just turning a profit. For Kaufmann, it’s about sustainability and having a direct impact on the community.
She spent nearly 20 years in the corporate world before ultimately founding Fix Development LLC in the Walker’s Point neighborhood of Milwaukee.
“It was my interest in change and community development in my neighborhood that led to Fix (Development),” she said. “In the broadest sense, I want the planet to be healthy, no matter where I live. I was seeing a trend – the disinvestment of my neighborhood – and I really wanted to switch that trajectory.”
Kaufmann wanted to be the change for her community; she wanted to help develop the area with service businesses that would really enhance life in the neighborhood.
Fix Development was established with a mission of achieving a “Quadruple Bottom Line” which, for Kaufmann not only means economic stability, but also environmental stewardship, social equity and cultural continuity.
“That’s what motivates me. It’s about more than just the bottom line.”
Fix Development has embarked on several projects – all community-based, all sustainable and all transformational for neighborhoods throughout the city.
“The community approach is key to obtaining the Quadruple Bottom Line,” Kaufmann said. “It works for me.”
Fix Development is currently working on several additional projects, including The Historic Walter Schmidt Tavern Development in Milwaukee’s Lindsay Heights Neighborhood and the 5 Wise Workshop in the Silver City Neighborhood.
The Walter Schmidt project is currently under construction, and Fix Development is working with neighborhood resident Jeremy Davis to complete the project. Kaufmann hopes that by learning the process and partnering with community members for operations and funding, the project will become their asset and additional projects can emerge using the same model.
