Baud Builders hosted their Builder 20 Club, the Craftsmen, earlier this month. As members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), contractors have the ability to join the 20 Club networking and educational program. Called 20 Clubs because of the cap at 20 members, the residential construction executives are carefully screened and selected by NAHB. The builder or remodeler is then placed in a club with members of relatively similar size and scope from regions outside their area of business (i.e., a production home builder will not be placed in a group with remodelers or smaller custom builders).
The result is a club with like-minded members from across the country who do not compete with one another. They meet regularly for an open exchange of information and advice via roundtable discussions and educational sessions. One of the biggest benefits of membership is the communication in between meetings. The club members stay in touch, often emailing the group for advice or information that is not readily available in the local marketplace. They often become friends! The NAHB Builder 20 Clubs celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2014.
Speakers for the recent meeting included John J. Brough, Jr. and Jeffrey B. Cianciolo, who spoke about business succession planning. The builders learned various strategies to use in order to retire from their business or turn it over to family members or other key people who currently work in their business.
Spencer McCombe of Cordsten Design Architecture, talked with the builders about what architects look for in builders when recommending them to homeowners and the varying levels of communication needed during the build-out of projects,in addition to other architect-builder speak.
Acting as a board of directors, the builders discussed and questioned each others’ current work and business practices, offering advice when needed. The group also toured some of Baud’s finished homes and projects under construction.
