F
is for Foksha
– and family
Foksha Homes and the possibility of the American dream
When Igor Foksha first moved to the United States , he didn ’ t speak a word of English . Back in his home country of Ukraine , though , Igor was a successful furniture and cabinet maker . His career in the trade began when he was just a teenager – and , at the time , Ukraine was still under Soviet control . Despite his monolingualism , Igor emigrated to the US in the early 1990s .
He quickly found work with a remodeling company operating out of West Salem , Oregon , and slowly picked up the language – and colloquialisms – of his new colleagues . In 1996 , trouble entered the remodeling market . With nothing to lose and now a fair grasp of English , Igor set up his own Salem-based cabinet shop .
The craftmanship on display didn ’ t go unnoticed by the local community . A couple of years after opening his shop , Igor was invited to join a building firm as a carpenter , working on a number of high-end homes in the Portland , Oregon area .
The homebuilding bug
The experience inspired Igor . He ’ d worked on the ‘ Street of Dreams ,’ as locals called it – a long row of multi-million-dollar homes . A motivational work environment , for sure . Entering the new millennium ,
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