The final meeting of the PBA Board of Directors was called to order on Saturday, October 28 at the Harrisburg Hilton and was presided over by President John Olson.
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Government Affairs Chair Jim Rumbaugh reported that the PBA staff is reviewing about 215 items of legislation that have been introduced in the House of Representatives and/or Senate, however nothing has been moving forward in the current environment.
Mr. Rumbaugh reminded everyone that the first edition of the GA “Builder Advocate” newsletter has been distributed and that future editions will be sent out prior to every Board meeting.
Stephen Fleming of the HBA of Metropolitan Harrisburg was congratulated for receiving the Hammers & Gavels Award for 2023.
Noting that the upcoming 2024 election cycle will be crucial to the home building industry, Mr. Rumbaugh reminded everyone to contribute to their local PAC and PaCAH and to consider joining PaCAH’s Keystone Club. He then collected contributions from locals and announced that a total of $9,950 was collected.
The following are members of the Keystone Club for 2023:
- Cindy Cepko
- Casey Coyle
- Heather Dieckmann
- Betsy Dupuis
- Dean Hilliard
- Eugene Horomanski
- Richard Kichline
- Daniel Meade
- Deborah Olewine
- John Olson
- Jim Rumbaugh
- Kert Sloan
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
President Olson welcomed Richard Clawson to the podium to announce a special surprise presentation. Mr. Clawson shared that PBA Past President Warren Peter was the recipient of the 2023 PBA Distinguished Achievement Award. Mr. Clawson detailed the massive contributions from Mr. Peter over the years at the local, state, and national levels as well as within his community and for the future of the workforce.
Mr. Peter took the stage and thanked those present and all of PBA for this honor.
2024 OFFICERS
Cathy Sloan, PBA Nominating Committee Chair, announced the nominations of Life Directors. In order to be eligible as a Life Director, members/directors must have attended at least two meetings annually for ten years. Those elected as Life Directors are as follows:
- Dean Hilliard, Central Susquehanna BA
- Dennis Olewine, Blair-Bedford BA
- John Olson, Wayne-Pike BIA
- Jay Provanzo, BIA of Lancaster County
- Frank Vargish, BIA of Lancaster County
Ms. Sloan then announced the nominees for the following offices. Following the appropriate motions and votes, all were elected for their 2024 positions:
- Andrew Kaye, NAHB State Representative – HBA of Bucks and Montgomery Counties
- Jon Sukonik, NAHB Builder Delegate – HBA of Bucks and Montgomery Counties
- Amy Martino, NAHB Associate Delegate – BA of Metropolitan Pittsburgh
PBA Regional Vice Presidents:
- Darrell Adams, Mideast
- Gene Horomanski, Midwest
- Michael Troutman, Northeast
- Paul Bell, Northwest
- Sam Carlo, Southeast
- Matt Keith, Southwest
PBA Regional Legislative Officers:
- Robert Wright, Mideast
- Matt Houser, Midwest
- Hurley Kane, Northcentral
- Richard Kichline, Northeast
- Thomas McCosby, Northwest
- John Bear, Southcentral
- Rich Carroll, Southeast
- Heather Dieckmann, Southwest
PHRC Representatives:
- Gene Kreitzer, Mideast
- Richard Clawson, Midwest
- John Olson, Northeast
- Thomas McCosby, Northwest
- Paul Deller, Southcentral
- Jon Sukonik, Southeast
- Daniel Meade, Southwest
2024 PBA Senior Officers
- Dean Hilliard, Vice President – Central Susquehanna BA
- Greg Harris, Secretary – HBA of Metropolitan Harrisburg
- Andréa Bledsoe, Associate Vice President – York County BA
- Donald Olsommer, Treasurer – Wayne Pike BIA
Ms. Sloan concluded by expressing her pleasure in announcinge the Board approval of Thomas McCosby (Lawernce BA and Mercer BA) as the 2024 PBA President-Elect.
TREASURER REPORT – Treasurer Don Olsommer, Jr. provided the board with an overview of financial status of PBA and BSI. Mr. Olsommer explored where income had exceeded expectations – primarily in the area of member dues receipts – and acknowledged those line items where income had fallen short. Mr. Olsommer reminded the board of the robust financial health of PBA’s investment position despite some operating budget struggles. He further noted how the recent special dividend paid by BSI benefited both the qualifying member participants and served as a membership advertisement for PBA. Mr. Olsommer concluded his report by asking for board approval of the audited, annual financial statements for 2022, which had been distributed to the board electronically following the summer PBA board meeting. The board approved the statements without dissent.
2024 BUDGET
President-Elect Thomas McCosby reviewed the proposed 2024 PBA budget. A copy of the budget was distributed to all directors prior to the meeting and had been previously approved by the Executive Committee. Mr. McCosby explained any significant variations from the 2023 budget. One significant change was a proposal to slash Senior Officer travel budgets by $20,000. Following a motion and discussion, the budget was amended to restore Senior Officer travel budgets to the 2023 budgeted amount. The board then voted overwhelmingly to approve the budget as amended.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT
Dean Hilliard, Membership Chair, shared the current trend of membership since the beginning of the year noting PBA had good and bad months. Fifteen locals experienced either growth over year-end 2023 levels or stayed the same.
Mr. Hilliard announced that meetings have been held with a majority of the locals to talk about challenges, needs, and experiences that they are facing concerning membership. PBA hopes to finish meeting with all of the remaining locals by the end of the year. Mr. Hilliard said that good things have come out of every meeting and details will be shared with all locals.
Finally, he announced that PBA is finalizing information on a year-long 2024 membership contest. Details will be coming soon.
BUILD-PAC REPORT
Maria Coutts, National BUILD-PAC Chair, stressed the need for members to support and contribute to BUILD-PAC. While Pennsylvania is far behind in contributions with only around $18,000, BUILD-PAC has provided the state with $30,000 in support of the industry. However, the weekend fundraising activities plus the online fundraising campaign has already shown results by raising nearly an additional $10,000 for BUILD-PAC.
NAHB REPORT
Andrew Kaye, NAHB State Representative followed Ms. Coutts by providing recent statistics from NAHB on building trends, challenges, priority items, and an explanation of NAHB expenses and revenue. He continued by sharing member benefits and a preview of the upcoming IBS February 27-29 in Las Vegas.
Mr. Kaye reiterated the importance of contributing to BUILD-PAC by explaining the key role Pennsylvania plays and how members need to step up their giving. He is working with NAHB to contact members through email resources to ask for donations, arguing that a contribution to BUILD-PAC is an investment in the future of the industry.
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS COUNCIL REPORT
EOC President Nicky Paterson of the Wayne Pike BIA summed up the Executive Officer Training session that was held on Thursday. There were ten EOs in attendance for informative news from PBA and NAHB as well as sharing sessions and exchanges of ideas. Nicky also urged locals to support their Executive Officers in attending future meetings as well as NAHB events like the EO Orientation sessions and the annual Association Management Conference.
PBA CEO REPORT
PBA CEO Daniel Durden gave a brief recap of the year at PBA noting the contributions of the Senior Officers and the dedication of the staff. He gave special acknowledgements to Nicky Paterson for planning the EO events and to Don Olsommer taking on the otherwise thankless job of PBA Treasurer. Mr. Durden noted that this would be John Olson’s last meeting as presiding officer and thanked him for his contributions.
PBA PRESIDENT REPORT
PBA President John Olson was pleased to share the progress of the PBA Strategic Plan. The committee of 13 members, along with PBA staff and a professional facilitator from NAHB, established five goals for the future:
- Marketing: Define our value proposition to market PBA to individuals engaged in our industry
- Education: Utilize PBA capital to impact statewide industry workforce development initiatives
- Partnership with Local Associations: Support local association efforts to grow membership
- Partnership with Local Associations: Improve and increase collaboration on events, information sharing and leadership development with the locals including board and regional meetings
- Education: Offer members necessary professional and personal development and promote the concept of PBA members having access to cutting edge education as a competitive advantage over non-members
The Board approved these goals and the committee will further explore ways to achieve them. John indicated the Officers’ intent to keep the committee intact moving through the life of the current plan. Upon President Olson’s call, the board voted unanimously to approve the five strategic goals.
President Olson also expressed gratitude to Mercer County Executive Officer Dot Hillman for her years of service to her local, the federation and her community. He then welcomed her forward so she could be acknowledged for her service and upcoming retirement.
Other issues that were presented and discussed with the explanation that the issue would go through the winter regional meetings included:
- The potential to reconfigure and consolidate PBA regions in the future.
- The possibility of PBA offering matching funds for specific local programs that would advance membership.
NEW BUSINESS
PBA Associate Vice President Andréa Bledsoe announced that the Associates Council will ask each local for a representative to serve in a new manner. In lieu of in-person meetings, the members will meet virtually prior to Regional Meetings to bring Associate Member issues to the table. Ms. Bledsoe noted that the Council has requested a permanent line item on Regional agendas to discuss those items.
With no further business to conduct, the board meeting adjourned. Members were invited to attend the Winter Committee and Board of Directors meetings as well as the Installation Gala at the Marriott Pittsburgh North (Cranberry, PA) set for March 14-16, 2024.