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 Las Vegas.
With more than 700 affiliated state and local home builders associations and more than 140,000 members across the country, NAHB represents 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 Dean Mon, a New Jersey-based builder and developer with more than 30 years of experience in the home building industry. The first Hispanic to be elected chairman of NAHB, Mon is president of the D.R. Mon Group, Inc., which specializes in the development and construction of green urban living projects throughout New Jersey. Since 1985, the company has created communities in Morris, Hunterdon, Union, Hudson and Monmouth Counties.
“Addressing ongoing housing affordability concerns will be the top issue for America’s home builders in 2020,” said Mon. “In this key election year, we will work with the White House and Congress to advance comprehensive housing finance reform and reduce burdensome regulations to enable more families to achieve homeownership or have access to suitable rental housing. We will also urge Congress to adopt practical workforce development and immigration policy that will help our industry fill open jobs and reduce the cost of remodeling and home construction.”
Also moving up on the association’s leadership ladder during NAHB’s Las Vegas meeting was John “Chuck” Fowke, a Tampa, Fla.-based custom home builder with 40 years of experience in the home building industry. He was elected as First Vice Chairman of the Board. Fowke is founder and president of Homes by John C. Fowke, Inc. His company has built hundreds of luxury homes throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Jerry Konter, a Savannah, Ga.-based home builder and developer with more than 40 years of experience in the home building industry, was elected as Second Vice Chairman of the Board. His company, Konter Quality Homes, is one of the largest home building firms in Savannah and has established 17 communities and built more than 2,000 homes and 600 apartments throughout the local metro area.
Alicia Huey joined the NAHB leadership ladder with her election as Third Vice Chairman of the Board. A Birmingham, Ala.-based custom home builder with more than 30 years of experience in the home building industry, Huey founded AGH Homes, Inc. in 2000. In addition to building high-end custom homes for buyers on individual lots, AGH Homes has also built in Hoover, Ala., and in several golf course communities in Vestavia, Ala.
2019 NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde, from Torrington, Conn., remains on the leadership ladder as Immediate Past Chairman. Ugalde is president and chief legal officer of T&M Building Co., Inc., one of the state’s largest home builders. Since its founding in 1962, T&M has built more than 4,000 new homes in over 45 Connecticut communities for trade-up and first-time buyers. He is also the founder and owner of GFU Investments, LLC, a builder/developer minority-owned business that focuses on urban development and workforce housing.
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 240 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.