2006 NETWORKING® MAGAZINE’S DAVID AWARD HONOREE.

JACK KULKA

President, Kulka Construction Corp.

A licensed electrical engineer, Jack Kulka recognized
early on that he liked to work with
people. Fresh out of New York University,
he landed a job in the aerospace industry, but sitting
behind a drafting board all day as one of 1,000 other
engineers wasn’t for him. He says, “I lasted three
days.”

Kulka went on to gain valuable work experience
at a small electrical contracting firm that grew significantly
when it secured the electrical contracts on
11 E.J. Korvette shopping centers. The company
expanded onto Long Island, and just two years after
graduating from college, Kulka was appointed Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer of the Long
Island division. He considers himself fortunate, too,
to have had the opportunity to become a construction
superintendent for Max Marcus, the premier
industrial developer on Long Island in the 1960s
and ’70s, and learn construction from a homegrown
master. In those early days, he worked side-
by-side with men from Italy and Portugal whose
skill and knowledge were gained from their fathers
and grandfathers in the trade before them, and they
passed on much of that knowledge to Kulka. His
experiences helped him realize that a successful
tradesman needs more than “book learning” and
that practical experience in real situations would
ground his career.

In 1977, with $100 and an investment in a typewriter
and a phone, Kulka founded Kulka
Contracting in the basement of his home.
Mustering up the courage to deliver a proposal in
person to influential owner Mike Leeds, he won his
first project. Through the friendship that was struck
between the two men, Kulka gained three additional
major clients: Harrison Conference Center,
Industrial Fasteners and Avant Garde Optics, and
was on his way to a successful construction business.

Today, Kulka Construction employees 30 people
and his team of professionals oversees anywhere
from $50 to $100 million of construction a year. The
company’s projects range from industrial buildings
to corporate headquarters, from theater complexes
to shopping centers, from office buildings to multifamily
residential projects, and they handle all
aspects of the job from getting government
approvals, to value engineering and planning.

“We have a large client base that continues to
provide business and is happy to recommend us,”
Kulka says. “By ensuring quality construction, we
protect our customers’ interests. It’s the only way to
build customer loyalty and earn the respect of contractors.”

Kulka credits the success of his business to his
“ construction management” approach – a new con

cept he brought to the Long Island building industry
in the 1970s. As a professional builder, Kulka
charges a fixed fee, which includes his efforts and
those of his employees. In this way, he feels he and
the owner develop relationships that are mutually
rewarding and allow them to complete the project
in a cost effective manner.

Kulka calls his business his “good luck charm”
because as it prospered, he began to build his life of
community service. He became active in the
Hauppauge community, where he lived, operated
his business, and sent his children to school. “When
you get something from a community,” he says,
“ you have to give something back.”

Kulka was one of the early builders of the
Hauppauge Industrial Park, conceived by noted
planner Lee Koppelman. In 1978, when the park
experienced a three-day power outage and found
little help from the power company, he helped form
the Hauppauge Industrial Association to advocate
for the park’s interests and for the business community.
He served as president, is a lifetime board
member and is still very active in the organization.

At the same time, Kulka was one of the five
founders of the Suffolk Y Jewish Community
Center, where he is a past president and remains an
active member today. Years later, he founded the
Hauppauge Education Foundation, which provides
programs for the Hauppauge school district and
supports educational, athletic and recreational
activities. He’s founder and past chairman of the
Farmingdale College Foundation, and served on the
Touro Law School Advisory and Development
Committee.

He was chairman of the Long Island Israel Bond
Campaign, the Long Island American Cancer
Society Charity Fund Drive, and St. John’s Hospital
fundraising committee; is an active member of the
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, and
was founder and past chairman of the Suffolk
County Congregational Coordinating Council.

“One of the highlights of my community service,”
notes Kulka, “was when I was chairman of the
United Way campaign, and worked with a National
Football League player to raise funds and promote
the good works of Long Island’s nonprofit community.”

“ In the construction business, I can see the physical
results of my efforts in the buildings and it
makes me feel proud,” remarks Kulka. “In much
the same way, seeing people benefit from good
works also makes me feel good.” He adds that to
succeed, one needs “tenacity. You have to keep trying
and keep making things happen. This is true in
business, in community service and in your personal
life.”

Kulka and his wife Harriet, who served as dean
of students at New York Institute of Technology for
28 years, live in Hauppauge. The couple has 4
grown daughters, all college grads: Paula
(University of Miami), Lee (SUNY Oswego), Amy
(University of Florida), and Nell (University of
Delaware) and a son Devin, 16 years old. Three of
the girls are educators — a higher education counselor
and elementary and high school teachers —
and one followed a business career.

There’s one thing on Kulka’s wish list: a 36-hour
day. He says he’d like “more free time,” but in all
likelihood, this community activist and successful
business man could easily fill 12 more hours.

NETWORKING® January 2006