Michelle Kelly
Director of Business Development – Seattle, WA

“The A/E/C industry is a relationship business above all else and the way you treat others matters.”

We’d like to welcome Michelle Kelly to the Cumming team. She will be based in our Seattle office and lead business development efforts throughout the Pacific Northwest region. Among other accomplishments, Michelle served as the CoreNet Global Washington Chapter President in 2018. We are excited to have her join us!

How long have you been working in the construction industry?

16 years

What brought you to Cumming?

The people! The people I’ve met at Cumming are professional, engaged, and enthusiastic to help their clients to the best of their ability. At Cumming, I’ll have the opportunity to do what I do best: contribute to the success of the team and clients and further develop my leadership skills. My husband is a project manager with Cumming and his experience here has been the best of his career; I’m hoping for the same.

What advice would you give to those in the A/E/C industry?

This is a relationship business above all else and the way you treat others matters. Treat everyone you work with as if they’re a client and when you need help, whether on a project or an introduction, those people will come through for you. Recognize that there’s more about this industry that any one person can know, so build your network of experts and become a resource to your team. Admit when you don’t know the answer to a question, and then not only find out the answer, go back and help the person who was asking.

What are some of your greatest accomplishments?

Working with Pacific Northwest University to design and construct their new 28,000-sq.-ft. classroom and faculty office building with prefabricated interiors in three months. That’s from initial programming through punchlist, and in rural Washington. I worked with the client team for almost three years from project ideation through fundraising, and then led the DIRTT project team throughout project execution. I’m also proud to have been the CoreNet Global Washington Chapter President last year. Personal accomplishments I’m most proud of are being a mom and the countless adventure races and mountain bike races I’ve competed in and podiumed.