Summit's COO/Senior Vice President Named on Professional Builder's "40 Under 40" Awards

At Summit Custom Homes, we have a lot to celebrate! In the March 2014 issue of Professional Builder, our very own Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Zalman Kohen, was featured on the magazine’s “40 Under 40” list. As described by the article, the 40 individuals who made the list “represent the next generation of leadership and innovation in home building.”

Halloween, 2013 - Summit's very own "Superman" !

Kohen is a “very talented, dedicated person, and is absolutely deserving of this award. He most certainly represents the next generation of leadership and innovation in home building,” commented Summit’s President and CEO, Fred Delibero.

Professional Builder received more than 100 submissions for this year’s awards.

“When selecting candidates, we primarily look for impressive and concrete accomplishments, such as contributions to noteworthy revenue and company growth, integrating new systems or technologies that reduced cost, and giving back to the community,” said Kyle Clapham, Professional Builder’s Managing Editor.

For Zalman, Failure is Not an Option

Zalman has certainly made some impressive accomplishments throughout his personal and professional life.  In 1995, at the age of 15, his family immigrated to the United States to escape religious persecution and to seek out better opportunities. It was through his parent’s love and dedication to bettering their family that Zalman adapted the “failure is not an option” approach to life. Zalman and his wife, Veta, were married at 19 years old and had twin boys a year later. While working an average of 60 hour weeks, Zalman was able to complete his dual-major bachelor’s degree and then, upon graduation, continued his education and completed the MBA program in one year.

Today, Zalman and Veta have three children: the twin boys, who are now 14, and a daughter, who is 5. He now runs  and operates Summit Custom Homes, a $75+ million dollar company.  He says that “with the combination of hard work and dedication, plus the support of a loving family…as well as being surrounded by encouraging and motivating people,” he has been able to achieve great successes this far and looks forward to many more in the future.

"It most certainly takes a team of hard-working and dedicated members of the organization to help us be successful, and I believe that I have had a small part in providing leadership and guidance in achievement of Summit Custom Homes' objectives and goals.  Those who know me would say that I am a “workaholic” and I do truly love what I do.  I enjoy it immensely and see it as a perk of my profession to be able to build a new home for a family, where their dreams are formed and built," said Kohen.

Some "Fun Facts" about Zalman: 

1. Most people are rather surprised to learn of my rather young age, as fortunately, the combination of my responsibilities, professional achievements and statue in the professional and personal circles supersedes the reality.  Based on such, most people would guess my being significantly older and are surprised of my actual age. (He's only 35!)

2. Most people would be surprised to lean that: I was born and raised in the former Soviet block, in the City of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.  The city of Samarkand is a second-largest city in Uzbekistan and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.  By some accounts, the city was founded in 700 BC.

3. Most people are surprised to learn that my wife and I had twins at the age of 20, and that by the time we are going to be 40, our boys will be 20.  :)

4. People would equally be surprised to learn that my family has come to the States as refugees escaping the grips of the religious persecution.

5. My mother was a professional hair stylist with a 25-year career.  As a young teenager, in order to earn some spending money, I helped mom at the salon and learned how to cut & style hair.  Although I don’t actively engage in this, most people find it rather surprising to learn that I know how to cut hair.

A few things he can't live without: 

1. My biggest asset and blessings are my wife and my children – my family. I love them and wholeheartedly rely on their support, love, motivation and inspiration.  Family is a main driving factor of my achievements and everything that I do, and everything that I am, is my family.

2. …and yes, a hot cup of coffee in the morning is an absolute necessity!

 3. Based on my dependability on my smart-phone, I’m not quite certain that I would be able to survive without it.

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