Company: Neumann
Enterprises, a Nashotah, Wisconsin, conservation residential
developer
Founder: Mark W. Neumann
Began: January 1999
2002 Sales: $7.3 million
Why did you start this
business?
Mark Neumann: The opportunity to be financially successful
in a business that focused on environmentally desirable goals of
preserving green spaces in a rapidly developing part of
southeastern Wisconsin was the primary motivation.
Our company
recognizes that as the population continues to grow at a rate of 1
percent annually, we'll see continued demand to also increase
our housing supply by 1 percent annually. This demand could easily,
over a 10 to 15 year period of time, eat up the majority of our
green spaces, especially in areas like southeastern Wisconsin. This
is a common problem in many areas around the country.
In eight projects over the past three years, we've managed to supply housing opportunities while putting conservation easements in place to preserve more than 400 prime acres of green spaces. It should be noted that this has been accomplished without the use of tax dollars. Not a bad start.
When did you know you'd made
it?
Neumann: When we started, our goal was to set aside 1,000
prime Wisconsin acres in open green space without the use or
benefit of tax dollars. We now know how to do it profitably, but
we're still on the way to "making it."
What did you think you'd blown
it?
Neumann: We've had to walk away from several major
projects because I couldn't get the governing entities in these
areas to see the vision clearly. Various rules and regulations
prevented the type of development that preserved the greatest
amounts of green space while also recognizing the requirement of
economic viability in our work.
