Editor's Note: The following information was provided at the fall board meeting of the state home builders' association.
Associates Council at work at the fall board meeting
The HBA of Greater Tulsa raised more than $362,000 during its annual sponsorship drive, the Total Resource Campaign, exceeding its goal of $360,000. These contributions fund the activities organized by the HBA throughout the year.
Additionally, the Tulsa HBA hosted its first ever fund-raising event for the newly established HBA Charitable Foundation, raising an additional $22,500 to support the Association's philanthropic efforts, which include the HBA scholarship honoring Lindsay Perkins for the OSU School of Construction Management. Also, those efforts support Tulsa Public Schools, Transitional Living Center's Lindsey House, Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless, and more.
To date this year, the Tulsa HBA has donated more than $25,000 to the Tulsa-area community to support a variety of housing and education initiatives.
Other Tulsa HBA News
Tulsa area housing starts for 2013 continue to be 25-30 percent higher than the previous year and are the most robust since 2008.
Membership recruiting for the Greater Tulsa HBA continues to exceed expectations, with 12 new members in November, bringing the total new members year-to-date to 136, and the total membership to 883.
The Board of Directors of the Greater Tulsa HBA has approved plans and funding to refurbish the organization's headquarter.
Paul Kane, HBA executive vice president, was named the National Association of Home Builders Executive Officer of the Year at the NAHB's Association Leadership Institute meeting in Portland, Ore. He was also elected to serve on the NAHB Executive Officer Council.
The Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa was honored with two awards at the National Association of Home Builder's Association Leadership Institute meeting. It was recognized for Best Membership Recruitment and Retention, and for Best Community Service Project (GreenBlitz).
Installation of Brandon T. Jackson as president of the Greater Tulsa HBA will be conducted at the IDL Ballroom in downtown Tulsa.
Home Builders Across the state
John McClenney, director of external services for the City of Stillwater, updated members of the Stillwater Home Builders Association that the city has implemented new customer service processes that should be beneficial to association members. Other speakers at recent monthly meetings were Richard Cory, Clearstream Wastewater Systems and several representatives from the City of Stillwater who discussed an upcoming vote on proposed property tax increases.
The annual Stillwater Home Builders Association Christmas party will be December 6 at Meditations.
Stillwater building permits are running 8 percent over 2012.
Members of the Southern Oklahoma Home Builders Association report that residential building in the Ardmore area is thriving, and commercial building is even better.
The outlook is positive with sales of new and existing homes increasing, and the gap in prices is small between new and existing homes. The only drawback to the picture is a shortage of labor, specifically for both framing and concrete work.
