Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as the North Carolina Home Builders Association President in 2010. I cannot express how proud I am to be involved with this group of professional home builders and professional associates.
As all of you know, the housing industry is experiencing trying times. The results have touched all of us in one way or another. I am confident that by working as a group and utilizing the resources that are available to us through our state association as well as the national association, we can get through this temporary downturn together.
You and I are the advocates for housing in our local communities, our state and our nation. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that our children and grandchildren have the opportunity of home ownership and that home ownership does not become the province of only the wealthy in our society, but is accessible to all who choose it. I firmly believe that home ownership is the cornerstone of strong families, strong families are the foundation of a strong society, and a strong society is what a strong nation is built upon.
The N.C. Home Builders Association was formed in 1963 by a group of visionary home builders and associates to advocate for housing in North Carolina. They stated as their objective: “This association exists for the purpose of improving conditions in the home building industry and there by, the social, political and economic welfare of the citizens of North Carolina and the United States.”
We as an association are fortunate to have many great men and women come before us who have done so much for our industry. Considering the difficult economic times we are in, I have chosen five goals for the next year. The theme running through each of the five goals is “to provide value in membership.”
1. Maintain a favorable business climate so our members can survive and succeed by: • Vigorous advocacy in the legislative, regulatory and judicial arenas on the local, state and national level;
• Continue to provide member value at the 8th edition of the 21st Century Building Expo & Conference;
• Provide relevant and useful support to our 65 local HBAs across the state
2. Stabilize or increase membership: • Evaluate the initial experience of the Oliver Group membership drive and, if successful, continue a similar drive in 2010;
• Continue to promote “doing business with a member.”
3. Increase professionalism through education: • Continue to strongly promote NCBI and NAHB courses and professional designations;
• Continue to promote vocational education opportunities in high schools and community colleges.
4. Increase BUILD-PAC participation and support as the best method to ensure a positive, pro-building political environment at the federal, state and local levels: • Achieve 100% participation from officers and directors of all local associations;
• Obtain 100% participation by all local associations in NCHBA Legislative Day on June 8;
• Solicit members and housing-friendly candidates for service on locally-elected and appointed boards and commissions.
5. Continue to promote green building: • Continue the evolution of NCHBA’s Green Building Council;
• Support the NAHB National Green Building Symposium to be held in Raleigh May 16-18, 2010.
I will be serving you next year with a very capable executive committee consisting of five other senior officers, ten regional vice presidents, three presidential appointees and two council presidents. All of these individuals are very capable in their own right, but as all of you know, the real strength of our association lies in the leadership of the local associations. As that great intellectual genius Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead fame once said, “Somebody has to do something, and the pathetic fact is it has to be us.”
I urge all of our local presidents, executive officers and rank and file members to dedicate themselves this year to becoming more involved with the state HBA by attending the first quarterly meeting February 17-18, 2010, in Greensboro. This will be your opportunity to join and learn from the 13 committees and council that will meet on Wednesday, February 17. The Board of Directors meeting is Thursday, February 18, and is always informative and open to all of our members.
I look forward to beginning the New Year and seeing all of you at the First Quarter Meeting in Greensboro.
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