The National Association of Home Builders announced it elected four senior officials to lead the organization in 2019.
The new leadership structure was announced this week during NAHB’s International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.
NAHB, which represents the interests of the nation's housing professionals through advocacy, education and research, elected Greg Ugalde as its chairman of the board. Ugalde is president and chief legal officer of T&M Building Co., one of Connecticut's largest home builders. Last year, Ugalde was elected as first vice chairman of the board.
"A top priority this year will be to address ongoing housing affordability concerns," said Ugalde. "On average, government regulation accounts for nearly 25% of the price of building a single-family home and more than 30% of the cost of a typical multifamily development. We will urge federal policymakers to take appropriate actions to ease regulatory burdens in order to put families in homes, create jobs and move the economy forward. We will also call on Congress to advance comprehensive housing finance reform and to adopt sensible workforce development and immigration policy that will help our industry fill open jobs."
The association also elected Dean Mon as first vice chairman of the board. Mon, who has more than 30 years of building experience, is president of the D.R. Mon Group, a New Jersey-based builder.
NAHB also announced it elected John "Chuck" Fowke as its second vice chairman of the board. Fowke is the founder and president of Homes by John C. Fowke, a luxury homebuilding company.
Jerry Konter joins NAHB leadership with his election as third vice chairman of the board. Konter is the founder of Savannah, Georgia-based Konter Quality Homes.
2018 Chairman Randy Noel remains on the organization’s leadership team as immediate past chairman. Noel is president of Reve, a custom home building firm based in the greater New Orleans area.
The team also includes NAHB CEO Jerry Howard, who leads a professional staff of more than 240 working out of the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. He has served as the association's CEO/EVP since February 2001. He previously served as NAHB's chief tax counsel.
