Cutter Construction Inc. has been fostering relationships, trust, and dreams with clients in Kentucky and the greater Cincinnati community for more than 40 years, handling projects both large and small as an award-winning custom home builder, remodeler, and an active commercial contractor.
Founded in 1993, the company strives to surpass expectations by developing life-long relationships while delivering the highest quality product possible, which helps create a vibrant community spirit where everyone lives, works, and plays.
Family ties
Jim Cutter, Founder and President of Cutter Construction, nurtures client relationships from the start of projects to the final walk-through and beyond. His wife, Connie Cutter, has managed the company’s office operations for more than 20 years, handling accounts receivable and payable, quarterly taxes, payroll, and much more.
“It is hard to list out everything Connie has truly done for this company. Her accuracy and attention to detail is unmatched and provides a trusted source for our customers. I can’t think of anyone else that could better manage this position,” says Jim.
After returning to the family business last year, Connie and Jim’s daughter, Hope Cutter, also plays an important role, particularly in design and meeting customer needs. “I love the design aspect—helping with layouts, finishes, selections; that’s where my passion is,” says Hope.
Those family ties are strong, and it’s clear Cutter’s commitment has kept the company running smoothly over the years. What’s important to Jim are both his people and helping others.
“We care more about relationships than we do the profit, and it’s hard to find people like that,” Jim says, adding that he’s lucky to have employees who do. “It’s really hard to find people who care as much as we do.”
The role of remodeling
Certainly, the business has come a long way since it started doing small projects that Jim could handle alone, an approach that typically meant building one or two homes while still completing small projects along the way. These days, Cutter handles all types of projects: entry-level homes, custom homes, custom remodeling, and commercial contracting.
“We are glad to take care of a wide range of projects. From small projects—that could be installing a storm door or building a front porch—all the way to larger-scale projects like whole home renovations, or adding a second floor,” adds Jim.
Whether serving real estate developers to build a 14-family building, or a private homeowner to finish their lower level, Cutter Construction is ready to serve anyone with a residence, condominium, apartment, or multifamily building.
Jim emphasizes that the company’s continued success is largely thanks to the firm’s commitment to remodeling, especially during the recession years. “Many small custom-home builders couldn’t hold on because if they were only building three or four homes a year and that shrank to one or zero, they had no income. Our remodeling skills have kept us busy the whole time,” he shares. “Looking back, remodeling has always been a strong presence in the building of our business and helped get us through the leaner times, like the recession and COVID, when people weren’t building homes.”
Award-winning projects
Keeping a good roster of partners that Cutter can finish jobs with is vital, Jim stresses, and is essential to providing the quality customer service on which the company prides itself. Caring deeply for the company’s numerous projects while delivering top quality to clients is something that has not gone unnoticed by the broader industry, and Cutter Construction has been honored with its share of awards, including three Builder of the Year awards from the Home Builders Association of Kentucky and the Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky.
“We are especially honored to receive these awards since they are selected by our industry leaders,” says Jim. For the last 10 years, Cutter has been ranked by the Cincinnati Business Courier among the largest 25 builders in the region. Cutter also received the BBB Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics in 2011, a non-industry award that goes to a selected company proven to use excellent work ethics in their marketplace.
“There’s also the Bob Weiss Wisdom Award, an important award for dad,” says Hope. “Bob is a great person who was devoted to and led the state of Kentucky Home Builders Association for over 40 years. Dad was honored and shocked to receive this award.”
Adds Jim: “The Bob Weiss Wisdom Award is an important award to me because Bob ran our state Home Builders Association for over 40 years, so he’s been around every builder in the state of Kentucky and knows everybody in the country when it comes to home building. He’s retired now, and every one of us who knows him, even if not in Kentucky, knows what a well-respected person he is to our industry, and what a great leader he was.”
Additionally, there’s the 2007 Donald M. Wiedeman Lifetime Achievement Award, which Jim is also very proud of, for dedication, loyalty, and service to the association and industry.
Dedicated to the community
Ongoing community commitment has always been a driving force for Cutter Construction. This is exemplified in the company’s involvement in skilled trades and career pathway programs at the junior high and high school levels, as well as NaviGo, a non-profit offering an academic coaching model that helps young students find a career path, co-founded by Jim in 2010.
“It doesn’t matter to me whether they’re interested in construction, aviation, sales and marketing, or the medical field,” Jim says. “I spend a lot of time in schools and with families, helping students figure out their career path. I also sponsor many trade programs that provide skilled trade training to young people. It’s important to develop the next generation.”
In addition to supporting his alma mater, Newport High School, and Newport Central Catholic High School in developing leadership capacities, Cutter has sponsored more than 20 local sports teams over the years. Additionally, Cutter has held leadership positions with Kids Voting of Kentucky, the Diocesan Children’s Home of the Catholic Diocese of Covington, Northern Kentucky University, Campbell County Lodge Boys Home, NaviGo, and Children’s Inc. Cutter has helped fulfill multiple wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Jim has served on the Make-A-Wish-Foundation board for over 15 years.
Hope, too, is involved in the community, particularly as a Program Director with Oh She Built That, a non-profit traveling woodshop that trains girls and gender-expansive youth not only in woodworking skills but also in confidence and resilience, serving students aged 9 to 18.
“I love doing it. If Oh She Built That didn’t come to some of these schools, some of these students might not have access to these skills otherwise,” Hope says. “I went to a great public high school, and woodshop was never even offered. It’s great we’re putting power tools in the hands of girls who might not have thought they wanted to build something, but they walk away so proud they’ve made something with their own hands! Some of them may never pick up a drill again and that’s okay, but it is a lifelong skill they carry with them.”
Shaping the future
With everything Cutter Construction has going on, what is this team considering next? Jim has some thoughts on the importance of developing the next generation of leaders for his company and the broader industry. Indeed, while weathering COVID and the recession were challenges for the company, Jim’s more pressing goal is to retain and coach more like-minded people.
Again, it’s all about forging and maintaining relationships, he adds. “The amount of time we take and the focus we put on relationships with our customers exceeds anybody I know,” he says. “The commitment we have to satisfy all people and take good care of them is our core philosophy. It really does come down to the relationships and people,” he says. “Although we feel like we are really good at building, the reason our phone continues to ring every day is due to how we treat people.”
