2009 Housing Hall of Fame and Induction Ceremony

Members and guests of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada packed the ArrowCreek Golf Club last night to honor officers and directors and to induct three revered colleagues into the Housing Hall of Fame. Long time member and past president Ray Pezzonella conducted the ceremonies with special guest, Senator Mark Amodei.

The honors began by naming Jesse Haw as Builder of the Year. Jesse and his family are well known for their community development and generous support to local charities. Garret Gordon was named Associate of the year. Garret led the G&O task force, which revised our bylaws and association policies. He is also a new board member. Rachelle Goodness was named Spike of the year for her unwavering efforts in member recruitment and retention.

After dinner, Hall of Fame inductee Norm Diana, was welcomed with a standing ovation. Norm is known not only as an accomplished builder/developer but also as a strong supporter of the community.

About 18 of E.W. Hardesty’s family joined us to see their late family member be honored by the builders association he helped create. Hardesty volunteered to be the first president of the association that he formed with a few other builders in the 1950’s to help builders ban together as the voice of the industry.

Ray Pezonella was clearly emotional about introducing his dear friend, Bob Jones, as a Hall of Fame inductee. Bob was the Executive Director of The Builders for more than 20 years. He pioneered many of the non-dues revenue generating programs that are helping to keep us operating today. Bob also led the association from about 150 members to over 750 members when he retired in 2006.

After the Hall of Fame inductions, Senator Amodei swore in the 2009 officers and directors. As we all hope 2009 will be year of change, it brings a first to The Builders - our first female president! Pam Parenti was proudly sworn in as 2009 president with Joe Lopez taking the vice president seat, Curtis Rowe as secretary/treasurer and Pat Riley as associate vice president.

It was an elegant event where the respect and admiration for those who volunteer their time to fight for our industry, to help us create homes for people, was unmistakable.

Green Home Inside the International Builders Show

I was mighty impressed that someone was going to build an entire house inside the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 4 day long International Builders Show. I was even more impressed that it was a green home.

This 2,426 square foot, two story, 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath home is a combination of modular and panel construction. It took about 10 weeks to build off site and 3.5 days to assemble on the convention floor. No small feat, I’m sure!

The goal was to create a high performance home with high-end finishes and a zero carbon footprint.

Steve Glenn, CEO of Livinghomes, said that this one of a kind house is for sale for about $600,000. He said they could produce a home with out some of the super high-end finishes in quantity (not sure how many he meant) for about $150 per square foot.

The actual construction took place at the
Profile Structures plant in
Santa Fe Springs California. I don’t know too much about these companies but I do know that our friends at Forma Homes (a BANN member) do similar things right here in northern Nevada. I took a tour of their Fernley plant about a year ago and I was amazed. They take your design, build it in their factory with very low worker’s comp risks, less than 3% waste and no weather worries then ship it off on a truck (or trucks) to your site to be assembled. It’s a pretty cool process.

So, I’m not so sure my 90 minute wait for a tour of this house
was really worth it but, was awesome to see a full house inside
of the convention center!

View all of my IBS photos on Flickr

Missy Hinton

Missy's day at the International Builders Show

I cautiously entered the exhibit hall and was immediately drawn to the Sears Commercial booth. I found Susie, from Dacor kitchen appliances, joyfully preparing grilled chicken salad with what she called “the best dressing ever”. She noted that it can be used as a marinade too. Susie’s amazing kitchen display was surrounded by big screen TVs, exercise equipment, Kenmore appliances and even water filtration systems.

I saw the Pink Panther at the Owens Corning Booth and put my feet up by the fire at the Heatilator booth. Our friends at Fireplace Distributors of Nevada are a local distributor of these super cool fireplaces.

As I wandered on, feeling warm and sleepy from the fire, I thought about hoping into a jetted tub at the front of the Kohler booth. Probably not a good idea!

Sounds of hammering, sawing and power tools I cannot identify, filled the air as thousands of building professionals made their way through the maze of enticing displays.

Windows and doors and flooring...oh my! For those of us that get overwhelmed in the aisles of Home Depot or Lowes, it was building supply overload!

Tomorrow, I plan to take a tour of the 'green' home that is built inside the convention center!

View all of my IBS photos on Flickr.

Missy Hinton

Forecast 2009 & Beyond Keynote Speaker Elliot Eisenberg

Our Forecast event is next week and I put together a little sample video to show you that you will be enlightened AND entertained! Our keynote speaker, Elliot Eisenberg, is a Senior Economist from the National Association of Home Builders. Now, don't yawn here! I promise that Elliot will make you laugh and give you an easy to understand economic outlook.

This video is from an entirely different type of presentation in a different state but I think you'll see what I mean.



We'll also showcase the humor and intellect of Mark Krueger of Grubb & Ellis; A multimedia presentation from Tim Ruffin of Colliers International and a tag team - dual presentation from Kris Layman, President of the Reno Sparks Association of Realtors and Steve Schiller of Ticor Title.

Get complete details and register on our website or call (775) 329-4611.

Mike Dillon, Greg Peek, Mike Holmes and Bob Nielsen returned from DC today after joining more than 80 other builders from across the country to urge congress to Fix Housing First. The coalition, lead by the National Association of Home Builders, proposes a stimulus package that includes an enhanced home buyer tax credit, low mortgage interest rates and continued efforts to prevent foreclosure.

Mike Dillon, Executive Director of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, reports that the meetings went well and all parties are hopeful for swift action to correct the housing crisis and flailing economy.

Read NAHB's press release or visit the Fix Housing First website for more information.