Karen Rugg and Ashley Bice

Karen Rugg and Ashley Bice are the owners of Perennial Building, a general contracting company based in Bend, Oregon. The company’s mission is to foster sustainability, equity, and community through the built environment and HempLime plays a significant role in that mission.

Karen’s interest in sustainability and the built environment started at an early age, leading her to get a Masters of City and Regional Planning, focusing on real estate development and sustainable affordable housing. She transitioned into the commercial construction industry shortly after graduation where she attained LEED Accreditation. Since 2006, she has successfully managed over $140M in construction projects in the hospitality sector. Over the years Karen has made time to pursue personal interests such as obtaining a Permaculture Design Certificate, working at several indoor and outdoor farms, and attending the Earthship Building Academy at Earthship Biotecture in Taos, NM.

Ashley is from a family of builders and started building when she was very young. While living in Iowa, she started her own general contracting company focused on residential and commercial remodels and was certified to perform both plumbing and electrical work. After several years of non-stop work, Ashley took some time to travel and made her way through Central Oregon where she continued her passion for innovative construction and building beautiful things. Ashley’s work has been featured in Central Oregon Western Home Journal.

In 2018, both Karen and Ashley were looking to move on from traditional construction styles and work
toward a more sustainable, community-driven method of building and development. With over 30 years combined experience in construction, Perennial Building is their collaboration to make this happen.

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