Don't miss the HBA Home & Outdoor Living Show, April 12 - 14, 2024 Wilson Logistics Arena  |  Ozark Empire Fairgrounds  |  Springfield, MO
Don't miss the HBA Home &
Outdoor Living Show
April 12 - 14, 2024
Wilson Logistics Arena
Ozark Empire Fairgrounds
Springfield, MO

2011 Awards Announced – Farhlander is HBA Builder Member of the Year

At its annual Christmas party and banquet, the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield announced its most prestigious honors of the year, including HBA Builder Member of the Year, Associate Companies of the Year, and Associate Individual of the Year. The banquet and award presentations were held on Tuesday, December 13 at the Hilton Garden Inn in south Springfield.

“This industry has confronted challenges during the past year and yet so many members have demonstrated they are willing to meet those challenges with excellence,” said HBA of Greater Springfield President Matt Bailey. “The honors we highlighted at our annual Christmas banquet demonstrated that leadership and professional excellence in our industry are as strong as ever.”

Annual HBA Awards Announced on Tuesday included:

HBA Builder Member of the Year
Jeff Fahrlander, CGP (Fahrlander Custom Homes)

Jeff Fahrlander
HBA Builder Member of the Year: Jeff Fahrlander

Jeff Fahrlander is a member of the HBA Board of Directors and in 2011 exhibited in the HBA Home Show and entered two beautiful homes in the HBA Parade of Homes. He has participated in HBA professional education programs for EPA Lead-Safe workplace certification and to complete his Certified Green Professional Designation. He is an advertiser in the HBA’s annual magazine. He also is a participant in HBA events, including the HBA Fishing Tournament, Member Engagement Mixer, and more.

Fahrlander supported HBA advocacy efforts by participating in the association’s annual Legislative Day in Jefferson City, where he helped make the case for keeping residential fire sprinklers as an option (rather than a mandate) for consumers. He also was a leader in candidate recruitment and political advocacy in the HBA’s efforts to elect pro-growth officials in Ozark, Nixa, and elsewhere.

Fahrlander is an active member of Second Baptist Church in Springfield and in 2011 again built the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Dream Home. The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway is a unique partnership where selected builders and communities leverage their skills and contacts to construct a Dream Home largely utilizing donated land, materials and labor. A total of 6000 tickets are sold at the price of $100 per ticket, offering ticket holders a 1 in 6000 chance of winning the Dream Home. For more information, see Jeff’s KSPR “Community Closeup” interview below:

HBA Associate Companies of the Year
Southern Materials Company and Southern Supply

Southern Materials Company and Southern Supply actively supported the efforts of the home building industry and of the HBA of Greater Springfield. Among the ways they demonstrated leadership in 2011:

  • Participated in 2011 Home Show, Home Remodeling EXPO
  • Annually provide volunteers to help sell tickets at HBA Home Show and Home Remodeling Expo.
  • Advertise in numerous HBA publications & online tools.
  • Distribution sponsor for HBA of Greater Springfield Directory
  • Host to HBA’s annual directory launch event
  • Strong Participation in HBA Committees, Councils, Etc.
    • Crystal Shotts served on Home Show committee & HBA Charitable Foundation Board
    • Darrellene Sosebee served on the Green Building Committee
    • Jim Rippy served on the Green Building Committee
    • Actively involved members of the HBA Remodelors Council
  • Enthusiastic Participants (and occasional winner of “best costume” awards!) in HBACF bowling event
  • And much, much more!

HBA Associate Individual of the Year
Tom Maher (Meek’s – The Builders’ Choice)

As manager of Meek’s Nixa Yard and as a past member of the HBA of Greater Springfield Board of Directors, Tom Maher actively supported the efforts of the home building industry and of the HBA of Greater Springfield. Among the ways he demonstrated leadership in 2011:

  • Serves on Christian County building codes commission as an informed voice who understands the building industry.
  • Provided early warning of Christian County’s accelerated code adoption process (with HBA’s help that has slowed, allowed for industry input, and brought Ozark and Nixa to the same table with Christian County & HBA).
  • Serves on Nixa City Council as an informed voice who understands the building industry.
  • Provided early warning to HBA of which candidates to support for election to an open Nixa council seat (with HBA’s help, the candidate won by two votes).
  • And much, much more!

HBA Presidents Awards:

HBA of Greater Springfield President Matt Bailey made special recognition of a number of key HBA members and partners who make extraordinary efforts for the betterment of the industry and/or the association. This year’s President’s Award Recipients included:

Mike Benna (Meek’s Design Center): For outstanding board of directors leadership to help place the HBA at the forefront of the message of the life-saving value of working smoke alarms. Benna initiated a program by which the HBA contributes working, new smoke alarm to area fire departments to be installed in older homes where fatal fire incidents are most likely to be a threat. In 2011, the HBA donated 450 smoke alarms to fire departments in Springfield and Republic.

Mike DeLong (City Utilities of Springfield) and the HBA Charitable Foundation Board of Directors: DeLong is president of the HBA Charitable Foundation Board of Directors. In 2011, the Foundation committed $31,000 to an HBACF Member Scholarship Fund to help HBA members pursue and complete professional designation credentialling. For those members who are serious about pursuing a professional designation in 2011 & 2012, the HBACF provides scholarships for 50% of tuition. And by making this commitment, the HBACF also made it possible for the HBA of Greater Springfield to guarantee that all of the necessary courses for members to complete these professional designations are offered locally this year and next. Since starting the HBACF Member Scholarship Fund, 87 member scholarships have been awarded in 2011. Sixteen new professional designations were completed in the first year of the two-year program. More than 50 HBA members now hold professional designations and dozens more are well on their way.

Herrman Lumber Company: In 2011, Herrman Lumber stepped forward as the official “Professional Designations Partner” of the HBA of Greater Springfield, promoting and supporting HBA education programs for members. They also have partnered to provide training facilities for use for HBA education programs to bring members up to date on regulatory compliance for lead-safe workplaces.

Chris Straw (City of Springfield) and Dave O’Dell (Greene County): As chief code officials in Springfield and Green County, Straw and O’Dell worked closely with HBA leadership toward common sense code amendments for the 2012 building code. Working together, these officials agreed to recommend amending out unnecessary but costly requirements of the new code, including: removal of mandatory residential fire sprinklers requirements; removal of drywall enclosure requirements beneath floor joists in unfinished basements; removal of requirement for arc fault interrupters in rooms other than bedrooms; and replacement of the onerous 2012 energy code (chapter 11 of the IRC), with the more reasonable 2006 IRC version. The more reasonable, amended version of the International Residential Code will be set for adoption by Springfield and Greene County in the first half of 2012. And, due to the HBA’s efforts with surrounding communities, these same common-sense amendments have an opportunity to become the standard that ultimately can be consistently applied throughout the region. Working with these reasonable partners, HBA’s regulatory advocacy on behalf of members will save tens of thousands of dollars per new home built, keeping new housing affordable for your future customers.

Galin Campbell (Galin Homes): In 2011, Campbell led the HBA’s Government Affairs committee to highly successful efforts in legislative, regulatory and political advocacy. He also helped develop new programs to more fully fund the association’s political action committee (the Coalition for Building a Better Tomorrow) in 2012 and beyond, and has helped re-structure the association’s advocacy committees to engage more members and better define the advocacy roles of each subgroup.