_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmarks
West
Prioritizing a close, unified relationship between contractors and clients, Landmarks West is a luxury custom homebuilder in exclusive neighborhoods across Utah. While the business also completes commercial real estate projects, its primary focus is the custom residential market. Established by two good friends, Van Kelly and Jared Higgins, Landmarks West is passionate about people, from its open approach to client relationships to the way in which it supports employees.
“ Me and Jared both grew up in the industry,” Van begins.“ Even as a child I loved building tree houses, but I officially entered the construction market in 1998, as a salesman for lumber, doors, and hardware. Then at weekends, I was a professional rodeo clown and funny man and even appeared in some rodeo movies. I wore a lot of different hats and diversified my talents, and you might still see me jump in the barrel occasionally. It can be confusing how a rodeo career ties into homebuilding, but both are all about networking. I view myself as being in the networking business, and I just so happen to own a construction company.
“ I met Jared over 20 years ago when we both worked for a previous company, Sunroc, which remains one of our key suppliers today. We were on a business rewards trip in Costa Rica, talking about our futures, and I asked Jared where he saw himself in ten years. He hesitated, and we suddenly thought about starting a company of our own, as we already had a fantastic working relationship. Money was never the main motivator, but we’ re both passionate about people and liked the idea of being able to support our own employees and their families.
“ We officially started Landmarks West in 2014; Jared was the first to quit his job, and I followed six months later,” he reflects.
modernhb. com 61