TimObrien_web

T here’s an old saying: “Adversity breeds creativity.” That maxim may well be applied to the story of Tim O’Brien and his Wisconsin-based company, Tim O’Brien Homes, an organization he began in mid-2007 with his two business partners, Matt and Mark Neumann, just as the national housing mar- ket began its downward slide. “I had no idea of starting a company at that time,” O’Brien avers. “I was let go from my previous position as the market started to crash. The regional builder that I worked with had decided that they were going to central- ize their leadership and I wasn’t part of the plan.” Facing the adversity of being out of a job in a declining industry, O’Brien decided to get creative. “I had an opportunity to sit down with Matt Neumann, a developer friend of mine, and we decided it might be a great time to start a homebuilding compa- ny,” he recounts. “Even though the market was sliding into a recession, there were going to be opportunities for us to build a great team, take advantage of some AT A GLANCE TIM O’BRIEN HOMES WHAT: A builder of energy-efficient homes WHERE: Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin WEBSITE: www.timobrienhomes.com TIM O’BRIEN HOMES POSITIVELY IMPACTING PEOPLE’S LIVES HOMES O’BRIEN TIM