Wolverine Building Group enters new leadership era riding growth wave

Aaron Jonker, left, and Curt Mulder. Courtesy Wolverine Building Group

As Wolverine Building Group trucks toward the finish of a record-setting year, it is also entering a new phase of leadership.

Wolverine co-owner and President Curt Mulder acquired the shares of partner Aaron Jonker, the company announced Wednesday. Jonker has spent the past nine months transitioning away from the day-to-day operations of the Grand Rapids construction firm.

Mulder, meanwhile, takes full control of the firm after joining Jonker as a co-owner in 2018.

“Aaron’s passions were leading him a few different places, so he stepped away, and I stepped deeper into operations as he spent more time outside of it,” Mulder said. “I’ve been here at Wolverine for 24 years, and I’ve served in a number of roles … I love this company, and really at the beginning of the year I took over the operational responsibilities and overall leadership.”

Mulder said he’s excited about how the consolidated leadership can help drive the efficiency of making quick decisions, which following the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be an increasingly important factor for contractors.

“Really, in the post-COVID world, there is a significant shift in the market in what types of markets are hot and which markets got really disrupted significantly by the pandemic,” he said.  “Our ability to be nimble and shift resources and be creative in how we do that will be key to Wolverine’s success moving forward.”

Wolverine, which was founded in 1939, is finishing up what will more than likely be a record-breaking year. Mulder said year-over-year growth for the company is nearing 40% and is on pace to break its pre-pandemic record by about 10%.

“We peaked into the pandemic, and then all contractors had a hard time during the pandemic, because you can’t replace three months of work in the remaining six months, but the growth coming out is strong,” Mulder said.

The pandemic helped by pushing into one of Wolverine’s bread-and-butter markets: industrial. With online shopping skyrocketing, the already depleted industrial real estate market was saddled with even more demand. So Wolverine capitalized on that and continued to build out a team to specialize in that realm.

Fast food restaurants were also hot during the pandemic, which helped them come out of it and double down with renovations and updates to their customer flow procedures, Mulder said. Big box retailers, like Target and Best Buy, are also providing Wolverine with work as they adjust to their customer habits, he said.

“We’re seeing innovative retailers thinking differently and making big investments to change quickly,” Mulder said. “We’ve been able to partner well with them to execute their significant plans to shift in how they do business.”

While lumber prices proved difficult the past several years and are just starting to ease, interest rates rising now will continue to slow single-family homes. That, he said, will help drive interest in multifamily projects, another Wolverine specialty.

The growth likely won’t stop for Wolverine either. Mulder said if everything in the firm’s funnel ends up in the pipeline in 2023, the projections for next year are looking at 15% growth year-over-year.

“The future is bright for Wolverine, and I’m super excited leading this company that’s been around 80 years,” he said. “It didn’t last because of one single individual, our team is strong and dedicated in its mission.”

As he steps away from the construction firm, Jonker plans to stay engaged in Grand Rapids while pursuing new passions after 15 years with Wolverine.

“After 15 years at Wolverine I plan to pursue my passions in new ways,” said Jonker, who had shifted focus over the past nine months away from daily operations. “For me, the responsibility of leading and owning a company has always been about community — doing good while doing well. It’s been a privilege to draw on the talents and generosity of the Wolverine team to make a difference in the lives of so many individuals and families in our community. That remains my passion, and I will stay engaged in the community and those causes.”