Get to know Sam Usdan

Vice President of the Family Enterprise Club, External Affairs

November 2020

My name is Sam Usdan and I am a second year, full time student triple-majoring in Finance, Strategy, and Managing Organizations. In addition to being Vice President of External Affairs for the Family Enterprise Club, I am also the Vice President of the Real Estate Club and Cork & Screw. After a summer of quarantine, I am particularly happy to be back on campus with my fellow Family Enterprise Club members. I joined the FEC and the KFBO to connect with and learn from others who come from family businesses and have found the experience to be among the most enriching of any during my time at Kellogg thus far. This year, it is my priority to strengthen the dialogue between the FEC and individuals within the greater Kellogg community who own or work for their family's business. If anyone reading this would like to get involved with the FEC, please reach out to me.

Prior to Kellogg, I spent two years working at my family's business, Midwood Investment & Development in New York City. I am the fourth generation to work at Midwood, which was started by my great-grandfather over ninety years ago as a real estate management firm. Today, the company is a vertically-integrated investment, development and management organization that owns over 130 properties across the US, and has several million square feet in its development pipeline. We currently operate out of four offices in ten states (plus Washington D.C.), with New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Los Angeles being our most active markets. Unlike most real estate firms, we buy and build to hold, often for decades; we are committed to bringing best-in-class planning, design, and execution to every project we undertake. To me, our firm is more than a family business; it is a responsibility to ensure that every addition we make to a community will leave a positive and lasting impact, creating sustainable benefits for generations to come. That responsibility is why I chose to come to Kellogg, and why I became involved with the FEC. I cannot foresee what the future will bring (COVID is a constant reminder of that), but I want to make sure that I am as prepared as possible to keep our company, and everywhere we do business, moving forward regardless of chance. I am confident that Kellogg and its community will give me the skills and network to diversify, adapt, and expand our firm while continuing to improve every neighborhood we touch.