WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 14, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) elected four Senior Officers to top leadership positions within the federation during the association’s International Builders’ Show in Orlando.
With more than 800 affiliated state and local home builders associations and more than 140,000 members across the country, NAHB is the “voice of the housing industry,” representing the interests of the nation’s housing professionals through advocacy, education and research.
Taking the helm as NAHB’s Chairman of the Board this year is Barry Rutenberg, a Gainesville, Fla.-based home builder with more than 35 years of experience in the building industry. Rutenberg is president of Barry Rutenberg and Associates, Inc., and his firm has developed more than a dozen communities and 1,000 homes in the Gainesville area.
“In this key election year, when stabilizing and restoring the nation’s housing market is of paramount importance to bolstering the economy, NAHB will work with political leaders on both sides of the aisle, the White House and the eventual GOP presidential nominee to promote policies that encourage homeownership and affordable rental opportunities,” said Rutenberg.
Also moving up on the association’s leadership ladder during NAHB’s Orlando board meeting was Charlotte, N.C.-based home builder and developer Rick Judson, who was elected to be NAHB’s First Vice Chairman of the Board. As owner of Evergreen Development Group, Judson has several decades of experience in land development and construction of single-family, multifamily and commercial projects.
Kevin Kelly, a Delaware builder and developer with more than 30 years of experience in the building industry, was elected as the 2012 Second Vice Chairman of the Board. Kelly has been a builder and developer since he joined Leon N. Weiner & Associates in 1979 and became actively involved at the Home Builders Association of Delaware. His building experience includes land development, multifamily and single-family home building, construction financing and property management.
Tom Woods, a Blue Springs, Mo.-based home builder, joined the NAHB leadership ladder with his election to the post of Third Vice Chairman of the Board. Woods is president of T.E. Woods Homes, a company he founded in 1974. His firm has developed scores of communities and more than 1,000 homes in the Greater Kansas City area.
2011 NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, from Reno, Nev., remains on the leadership ladder as Immediate Past Chairman. Nielsen is president of Shelter Properties, a development and management company headquartered in northern Nevada.
Rounding out the association’s leadership is NAHB Chief Executive Officer Jerry Howard, from Washington, D.C. Howard heads up a professional staff of more than 250 working out of the National Housing Center in Washington. He has served as the association’s CEO/EVP since February of 2001. Previously, Howard was NAHB’s chief tax counsel.
