Board of Directors Meeting
The PBA Board of Directors met on October 22 for the final calendar-year meeting of 2022. Following a welcome from President Cathy Sloan and a remembrance of members who passed since the last meeting, the Board welcomed comments from Bill Owens, 2023 Candidate for NAHB 3rd Vice Chair.
Members received reports from the Chairs of Government Affairs and Membership as well as PBA’s healthy financials through August 31.
Cindy Cepko, Nominating Committee Chair presented the candidates for 2023 PBA offices. Those receiving unanimous recognition from the Board for 2023 included:
- President – John Olson, Wayne Pike BIA
- Vice President – Thomas McCosby, Lawrence BA
- Secretary – Dean Hilliard, Central Susquehanna BA
- Treasurer – Don Olsommer, Wayne Pike BIA
- Associate Vice President – Andréa Bledsoe, York BA
- NAHB State Representative – Maria Coutts, Wayne Pike BIA
- NAHB Builder Delegate – Jon Sukonik, HBA of Bucks and Montgomery Counties
- NAHB Builder Alternate – Dean Hilliard, Central Susquehanna BA
- NAHB Associate Delegate – Amy Martino, BA of Metropolitan Pittsburgh
The board also elected Regional Vice Presidents (RVP), Regional Legislative Officers (RLO), and PHRC Representatives for2023:
- MIDEAST – Darrell Adams, RVP; Robert Wright, RLO; Gene Kreitzer, PHRC
- MIDWEST – Gene Horomanski, RVP; Matt Houser, RLO; Richard Clawson, PHRC
- NORTHCENTRAL – Steve Brown, RVP; Hurley Kane, RLO; Laurel Miller, PHRC
- NORTHEAST – Michael Troutman, RVP; Richard Kichline, RLO
- NORTHWEST – Paul Bell, RVP; Thomas McCosby, RLO and PHRC
- SOUTHCENTRAL – Kevin Kozo, RVP; John Bear, RLO
- SOUTHEAST – Sam Carlo, RVP; Richard Carroll, RLO; Jon Sukonik, PHRC
- SOUTHWEST – Matt Keith, RVP; Heather Dieckmann, RLO; Daniel Meade, PHRC
The Board also elected three members as Life Directors. In order to become a Life Director, a member must attend two meetings a year for ten years. Those receiving the Life Director status during the meeting were:
- Hurley Kane, West Branch Susquehanna BA
- Thomas McCosby, Lawrence County BA
- Jon Sukonik, HBA of Bucks and Montgomery Counties
President-Elect John Olson presented the proposed 2023 PBA budget to the Directors. Following discussion, the Board passed the budget as presented.
In response to requests from locals, PBA presented a marketing plan to the Board for consideration. The initial goal of this plan is to brand PBA and bring awareness to the public as well as other potential Builder and Associate members, that there is a Builder’s Association.
This will be a digital campaign that will focus on PBA as being “the go-to resource for residential construction needs”.
As the campaign progresses and PBA is better recognized, leadership hopes that marketing efforts can be targeted in ways to direct consumers and prospective members to their applicable local associations.
Leadership has identified Group Two Marketing, a member of the BIA of Philadelphia, to spearhead this effort given their extensive building industry knowledge and long-standing leadership in the community.
Following a detailed dialogue, the Board of Directors authorized leadership to spend up to $100,000 from unrestricted reserves for the purpose of marketing Pennsylvania Builders Association over the course of the next year.
PBA CEO Dan Durden introduced a proposal from the Home Builders Association of Michigan intended to “Identify, retain, and recruit new Builder and Associate Members under the age of 45.” Michigan’s proposal would grant a four-year discount on state and national dues to new members under the age of 45. The program would be optional but locals taking advantage of this opportunity would be required to submit a plan to attract and retain these members. Dan indicated that NAHB would be debating the proposal their upcoming Leadership Meetings and NAHB delegates from Pennsylvania should know how the PBA board regarded the proposal.
Members offered their opinions to NAHB State Representative Maria Coutts to take to NAHB during the upcoming meetings. Board members expressed an interest in learning more about implementation of the proposal before taking a final position
PBA President Cathy Sloan closed the meeting by thanking the Directors, members, and the PBA staff for their support during her term of office.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 11 at the Hotel Hershey.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Associates Council
Dean Hilliard, Chair
At the Associate’s Council meeting, there was discussion on how we could start getting associate members back into the organization. Bill was there from NAHB and joined in the discussion. Builder members definitely need to be requiring associates to be members was one of the items discussed. There were a number of other ideas circulated amongst the group, but nothing that we could do anything with currently.
Membership and Communication Committee
Thomas McCosby, Chair
The 2022 Fall meeting of the Membership Committee was very well attended and this resulted in a lively discussion which ran for 1 ½ hours. The efforts of all EOs and members have given us hope of increasing membership as we begin to return to a more normal meeting and event schedule. We were able to see increases in several locals resulting in a total increase for the month and quarter, Rick also provided us with national comparisons where we were able to show a net increase. All of these items were good news but the most exciting discussion involved the PBA Marketing Proposal. This plan will bring us greatly enhanced social media presence resulting in interested individuals being directed to our members before any others. It is the goal of this plan to make PBA and its members easy to find and easier to hire. As this program is refined over the coming years, the value of a three-part membership will result in increased interest from builders and associates. Finally, PBA will be working with several locals to allow their members time to consolidate with other locals or to increase membership above NAHB’s minimum.
PBA-PHRC Committee
Gene Kreitzer, Chair
The PBA-PHRC breakfast meeting on Friday, October 21, kicked off a full day of committee meetings and discussions. This meeting provided an opportunity for PBA members to speak with the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC) team about the winter schedule of events. Chris Hine, Rachel Fawcett, and Darrin Wright presented an overview of the upcoming slate including the PHRC webinar series, the 2023 PHRC Housing Conference, and the 2022 PHRC Construction Summit, which is geared towards secondary CTE instructors and students. As the PHRC is housed at Penn State, upcoming university activities were discussed such as the 2022 Hankin Distinguished Lecture and the NAHB Student Competition. The Penn State NAHB Student Competition team presents at the 2023 International Builders Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, and PBA members are invited to attend the student team’s presentation. The PHRC will share the presentation date with PBA as soon as it has been decided. Future questions and inquiries were directed to the PHRC website at www.phrc.psu.edu.
Workforce Training & Education Committee
Cindy Cepko & Kert Sloan, Co-Chairs
The PBA Endorsed Trade Program will be reviewing 12 schools for recertification during the 2022-23 school year. Plans are underway to develop a media package for middle school and elementary school counselors to access for educating students on the opportunities in the construction industry. Marketing materials for the Endorsed Trade Program are currently being updated. Ten $250 student Recognition Awards are budgeted for ETP students for the 2022-23 school year. Members will be receiving information in November on how they can support the future of the Endorsed Trade Program.
Professional Women in Building Council
Anya Chrisanthon, Chair
The Professional Women in Building Council met to discuss finances and plan fundraisers to establish scholarships. Members are looking into the possibilities of holding an opportunity of providing headshots for members during the Winter Board Meeting. Local chapters provided activity reports. Members answered questions from local representatives about how to establish chapters. Moving forward, leadership will rotate between local chapters.