The Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield recently was recognized with five national awards for association excellence from the Executive Officers Council (EOC) of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
The 2011 Association Excellence Awards were announced this month, and officially will be presented in New Orleans, Louisiana as a part of the National Association of Home Builders’ annual Association Leadership Institute, August 6-10. Annually, the Association Excellence Awards recognize – in a wide range of categories – outstanding work by HBAs of varying sizes from across the country.
By receiving top honors in five categories, the HBA of Greater Springfield is among the most decorated Home Builders Associations in the country. The HBA of Greater Springfield and the Home Builders Association of Metro Portland (OR) led all AEA winners with five awards for association excellence. The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (WA) and the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County (NC) each received four awards. In all, 27 state and local builders associations were recognized with at least one Association Excellence Award.
“Of course, receiving national recognition for our association’s work is gratifying and humbling,” HBA CEO Matt Morrow said. “But it also serves to underscore what most of us already suspected: we live and work someplace special. The members of the HBA of Greater Springfield are remarkable people who do remarkable things every day. Our HBA staff is hardworking and committed to serving those remarkable members at the highest possible level. And our volunteer leaders are people of extraordinary vision, purpose, and resolve. Even facing unprecedented industry challenges, they consistently hold fast to the highest possible standards.”
Association Excellence Awards to be presented in August to the HBA of Greater Springfield include:
Best Public Relations Program Conducted: “Year of the Smoke Alarm” Campaign
As the HBA ramped up its efforts to prevent mandatory fire sprinklers, the association partnered with fire departments in Springfield and Republic to publicly provide free smoke alarms for older homes. The campaign identified builders as safety-conscious professionals, and highlighted where real fire safety gains can be made: older homes.
Best Education Program: HBACF Member Scholarships for Professional Designations
As the industry emerges from recession, HBA members want to compete for new business by earning, maintaining and marketing professional designations. Unfortunately, the economic impact of the last several years has left many without available financial resources to pursue or maintain these credentials. So, the HBACF helped bridge that gap.
Best Association Operations Program Administered: HBA Strategic Plan
The HBA’s 2011 strategic plan guides decisions and priorities for the association as it strives to serve its members, advocate on their behalf on various platforms, and equip them to compete and succeed in an emerging and changed economy.
Best Community Service Project Conducted: “Builders’ Circle” Habitat Homes – Green Certified
HBA partnered with Habitat for Humanity and a corporate sponsor to build the first two homes in Habitat’s “Builders’ Circle” subdivision. As part of the effort, the homes were certified to the National Green Building Standard and served as demonstrations of how building green doesn’t have to “break the bank.”
Best Source of Revenue Other Than Dues, Parades, or Shows: Ozarks Regional Housing & Construction Conference
The housing and construction industries are essential for creating jobs and increasing business activity and local economic vitality. This conference provides accurate information about the status of the housing and construction industries, and practical steps to activate that information for the good of individual businesses, the industry and local economies.
The Association Excellence Awards is an annual program designed to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of state and local home builders’ associations and executive officers in the field of association management. EOC membership is comprised of the staff executives who direct more than 750 NAHB-affiliated state and local home builders’ associations representing more than 140,000 home builders in communities across the United States.
“The Association Excellence Awards recognize the outstanding effort, commitment and achievement an executive officer and an association’s membership have made,” said Chuck Kavanaugh, president of the EOC and executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Louisville, Ky. “These awards are well deserved and represent a true showcase of the outstanding work of home builders’ associations around the country.”
The winning entries will become part of the online EOC Idea Loan File so that other executives and associations across the country can access and learn from them in order to provide better service to their own members and community.
For more information on the HBA of Greater Springfield, visit SpringfieldHBA.com. Or contact CEO Matt Morrow at (417) 881-3711. To learn more about the Association Excellence Awards, go to www.nahb.org/aea.
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