FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2005

Contact: Matt Derrick
(816) 942-8800, ext. 213

Home Building Industry Honors Outstanding Individuals
Builder Jim Haas Jr. Inducted Into Local Builder Hall of Fame

The Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (HBA) honored three home-building leaders for their contributions to the local community and their lasting impact on the industry during the association’s annual Inaugural Gala in December at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.

Johnson County home builder Jim Haas Jr. of Jim Haas Builders Inc. received the association’s prestigious Builder Hall of Fame Award, which has been presented annually since 1972 to home builders who have made major and lasting contributions to home-building industry, the association and the community over the years. Haas has been a member of the HBA since 1983 and is a member of the board of directors for both the local association and the National Association of Home Builders.

Haas has been a tireless advocate for better building codes, helping to lead the taskforce that helped implement the Johnson County Contractor Licensing program and recently heading a committee that drafted standards for stucco applications and inspections. Haas is also the current chairman of the Overland Park Board of Code Appeals, of which he has been a member for the last decade. As a home builder, Haas has earned the Certified Gradute Builder designation and is multiple winner of the HBA’s American Dream Awards, Pick of the Parade Awards and Distinctive Plan & Design Awards held in conjunction with the Spring Homes Tour and Parade of Homes.

“I am truly humbled and honored by this award,” Haas told the audience of more than 350 home-building professionals attending the 2006 HBA Inaugural Gala. “It is really a distinct honor, one that I will always remember, appreciate and treasure.”

The HBA Associate of the Year Award was presented to Donna Williams, vice president for North American Savings Bank. The award is presented each year to an associate member of the HBA who has made significant contributions to community projects and championed causes vital to the industry’s associates, which include suppliers, subcontractors, Realtors, lenders and other product and service providers. With more than 30 years experience in the construction lending in Kansas City, Williams is currently serving as chairman of the organization’s Associates Council and is a member of HBA Board of Directors. She also served for 10 years on the Lenexa Planning Commission.

“I was thrilled and honored to be selected,” Williams said. “There are many associates who give their time and talents to support the home-building industry, and to be individually recognized among this group and included with the associates that have previously received the award is a privilege.”

The HBA Bob Bollier Award was presented to Tammy Henderson, director of residential marketing for Hunt Midwest Residential Development. The award is named after the late Bob Bollier, who was a long-time member of the association’s Sales & Marketing Council. The award is presented each year to a member of the council who maintains a high-level of integrity and community involvement. Henderson was recently elected chair of the association’s Sales & Marketing Council and is past chair of the group’s committee overseeing the Metropolitan Awards for Marketing Excellence. During her tenure as chair, the awards programs more than doubled its number of entries. She is currently chair of the North Kansas City School District Education Foundation and is a member of the district’s Market Advistory Committee. She was recently appointed by Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Kay Barnes as co-chair of the North Oak Corridor Steering Committee and was the 2005 recipient of the Anne Robb Townsend Award in Business.

“I am very honored by the award,” Henderson said. “I actually worked with Bob Bollier when he consulted on Riss Lake in its very early days. I know what a consummate professional Bob was and the respect he had for the new-home-building industry. To receive this award in his name means a lot to me. I hope he would have been proud.”

The Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Kansas City is the voice of the housing industry and the source for housing information. Comprising more than 1,000 member companies, the HBA represents an industry that contributes approximately $2.5 billion to the Kansas City economy, and supports more than 36,000 jobs in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.

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