The Peterson Companies property

The Peterson Companies: Family-Owned Business Honored

If you’re from the Washington, D.C., region, it’s likely that you have worked, lived or played in some of The Peterson Companies’ portfolio, says the Washington Business Journal, metropolitan Washington’s leading business publication and presenter of a new Family-owned Business Award that recognized The Peterson Companies.

Milt Peterson founded the company in 1965 and launched an extensive and impressive journey into developing more than 34 million square feet of retail, hotel and office space and 26,000 residential lots in Northern Virginia and nearby suburban Maryland.

Jon Peterson, today chairman of the company’s executive committee, joined NAIOP in 1991 and has served on the board of directors and executive committee. The company is active in NAIOP Northern Virginia and helped launch the Masters in Real Estate Development (MRED) program at Northern Virginia’s George Mason University.

Family-run might be a better descriptor for the company – four Peterson children work together to carry out the vision of their father Milt.

“We each have one vote – that makes four votes – and Milt has five,” Jon Peterson said (in an interview with the Washington Business Journal) about the balance of power between the first and second generation at the company. “That kind of tells you how things have been done around here for a while. And we’re OK with that. He’s been pretty right with most of his decisions over the years. He’s the visionary.”

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