Q&A with Craig Krumwiede, president and CEO of Harvard Investments
by Rose Law Group Reporter
Craig and his wife Alison on a bike trip across Vietnam. /Photo provided by Craig Krumwiede via RLGR
In this week’s continuing Q&A series we spoke with Craig Krumwiede, president and CEO of Harvard Investments, via email.
Harvard investment has become such an incredible driver in our real estate market. First, tell us the genesis of the company and your involvement?
After law school, I worked in international tax law at Deloitte & Touche. All my clients were real estate investors from other countries investing in the U.S., including the Hill family. The Hill Companies is a widely respected organization from Canada that has been in business over 100 years. I let them know I was considering joining a different firm and they said, “That’s great, but why don’t you join us, and if you don’t like it, you can go back to selling your time by the hour.” I had just gotten married and bought a house. My wife Alison had a good job as an attorney, so we decided to take the risk and it has been a wonderful 36 years.
When I joined Harvard Investments 36 years ago, we were focused primarily on land investments. It wasn’t until the 1980s when I became president that we transitioned into full-fledged development — really out of necessity, because no one was interested in buying raw land at that time. It took a while to figure out all the complexities, but I dug in and found out it is something I am truly passionate about.
