Nearly 200 home building professionals gathered Jan. 31 for the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland’s fifth annual Excellence Awards Banquet, which recognizes the outstanding work of local companies across a variety of categories.
In addition to the 30 Excellence Awards, the HBA presented Annual Awards to individual members who demonstrated exceptional commitment to the association in 2008.
“It is important that wetake some time each year to applaud the individuals and companies who lead our association through their efforts," said HBA Chief Executive Officer Dave Nielsen. “We were proud to have so many awards to issue this year, and so many difficult decisions to make when judging submissions.The Portland area’s homebuilding industry is home to some amazing talent and some outstanding professionals.”
The HBA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Tom Kelly of Neil Kelly Design/Build Remodeling and Chuck O’Rourke of First American Title Company (retired).
Since he was named president of Neil Kelly in 1979, Tom has taken the company to new heights by expanding it to include showrooms in Portland, Lake Oswego, Eugene and Bend and over 160 employees trained across several disciplines.
Kellly has been a member of the Home Builders Association since 1971. He was the HBA President in 1996 and co-founded the Remodelers Council in 1998. He is also a past chair of the State of Oregon Construction Contractor’s Board and a past and founding chair of the statewide Oregon Business Association.
Kelly’s passion for green building practices led him to embrace the principles of “The Natural Step” in 1997 as a progressive way of approaching daily business that reduces environmental impact while boosting efficiency. He’s also been an active supporter of a wide variety of educational, environmental and social service organizations for the last 30 years.
Chuck O’Rourke was born and raised in Portland. During his 30 years with First American, Chuck was a sales manager, national accounts representative, manager of the Clark County FATCO, a member of the Oregon State Board of Directors, and the organization’s president (which he considers his biggest honor to date). As FATCO’s president, he took the company to the #1 position in market share and the Oregon region’s operations to the seventh most profitable in the United States.
Throughout this time, he was an active member of the HBA of Clark County. He served on their board for six years, was their Secretary-Treasurer in 1991 and was named Affiliate of the Year in 1988.
He retired from FATCO in 2005, and since that time he’s been an active member of the Home Builders Foundation, serving as its president for three years. In addition to his role with the Foundation, Chuck also serves on several community boards.
The award for Builder of the Year went to Haggart Luxury Homes. With more than 46 years of combined experience in homebuilding, the Haggart family is committed to building each home as if it were their own. They are known for using high-quality materials and trusted craftsmen, following through on all details, and managing schedules as carefully as the budget. Haggart Luxury Homes earned recognition from the HBA as a Certified Master Builder, and their entry in the 2008 Street of Dreams won the “Best in Show” award.
Scott Gregor, co-founder of Master Plan Remodeling, earned the Remodeler of the Year award. Gregor is a Certified Remodeler, Certified Graduate Remodeler, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, past president and current member of the Oregon Remodelers Association and a past director of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. In the last seven years, his company has won 60 awards, including eight HBA Excellence Awards.
Gail Hommel of Portland Mechanical Contractors earned the Associate of the Year award. During the last five years, she took on active roles in the HBA’s Remodelers Council, Tour of Remodeled Homes Executive Committee, Home & Garden Show Committee, HBA Board of Directors, OHBA Board of Directors and Home Builders Foundation.
Quadrant Systems earned the Trade Contractor of the Year award.For more than 20 years, Quadrant Systems has kept Northwest families, builders and businesses on the cutting edge of systems and technologies. Their 30 staff members stress quality and reliability and are passionate about enhancing people’s lifestyles by working closely with them to create the home entertainment systems of their dreams.
For the third year in a row, MBank’s Kimberly Wheeler earned the Spike Award for recruiting more members to the association than anyone else, a feat never before accomplished in HBA history. To date, Kim has recruited 85 new members.
Other Excellence Award winners included the following:
Sales & Marketing Awards
Best Website by an HBA Member Yalecrest Renovations
Best Radio Ad Lakeside Lumber
Best Non-Traditional Advertising / NW Natural
Special Promotion
Best Overall Marketing Campaign Art4orm
Best Professional Design Center Arbor Custom Homes
Sales and Marketing Silver Merit Winners
Best Website by an HBA Member Art4orm
Best Professional Design Center Intrinsic Design
Remodeling Excellence Awards
Whole House Remodel Under $250,000 Highland Ridge Custom Home Remodeling
Whole House Remodel $250,000-$499,999 Cascade Restoration & Remodeling
Whole House Remodel $500,000-999,999 BC Custom Homes Corp.
Whole House Remodel $1,000,000 above Metke Remodeling and Woodworking Inc
Kitchen Remodel Under $100,000 Craftsman Design & Renovation
Kitchen Remodel $100,000 and above ............Neil Kelly Design/Build Remodeling
Bathroom Remodel under $50,000 Metke Remodeling and Woodworking Inc
Bathroom Remodel $50,000 and above Yalecrest Renovations
Green Remodeling Project The Argonaut Group/Paolo Design Group
Master Suite Remodel $100,000 and above Cascade Restoration & Remodeling
Exterior/ Outdoor Living/ Deck Remodel Metke Remodeling and Woodworking Inc
Open Category ............ Neil Kelly Design/Build Remodeling
Design REX Awards
Residential Bath Design ....................... Fuller Spaces
Residential Kitchen Design ............ Paolo Design Group
Residential Whole House Design ........... Z-3 Design Studio Inc.
Remodeling Silver Merit Awards
Whole House Remodel $250,000-$500,000 Fouch Building & Remodeling
Whole House Remodel $500,000-$999,999 Neil Kelly Design/Build Remodeling
Bathroom Remodel $50,000 and Above Neil Kelly Design/Build Remodeling
Residential Kitchen Design D.P. Design
Building Excellence Awards
Single Family Homes Detached Under $250,000 Taliesin Homes Northwest, Inc.
Built by a Medium Volume Builder
Single Family Homes Detached $250,000-499,999 Arbor Custom Homes
Built by a Large Volume Builder
Single Family Homes Detached $500,000-574,999 BC Custom Homes Corp.
Built by a Small volume Builder
Single Family Homes Detached $500,000-574,999 Arbor Custom Homes
Built by a Large volume builder
Single Family Homes Detached $575,000-649,999 Hammer & Hand/D.P. Design
Built by a Large volume Builder
Single Family Homes Detached 650,000-724,999 Skye Homes
Built by a Small Volume Builder
Single Family Homes Detached $650,000-724,999 Arbor Custom Homes
Built by a Large Volume Builder
Single Family Homes Green Building ..........The Argonaut Group/Paolo Design Group
$500,000 and Above
Single Family Homes Detached ........... Arbor Custom Homes
$725,000-999,999
Single Family Homes Detached BC Custom Homes Corp.
$1,000,000-1,999,999
Single Family Homes Detached BC Custom Homes Corp.
$2,000,000 and Above
Single Family Homes Attached Under $349,999 Eastview Development
Single Family Homes Attached ............ Eastview Development
$350,000 and Above
Building Silver Merit Awards
Single Family Homes Detached Ribar Construction LLC
$2,000,000 and Above
The awards program was sponsored by ProBuild, Contract Furnishings Mart/Stainmaster, The Oregonian and Energy Trust of Oregon.