Northeast Tennessee 2009 Builder of the Year

On Saturday night at the Holiday Inn ballroom in Johnson City, the Homebuilders Association held its annual Gala. Congressman Dr. Roe, Mayor Myron, some commissioners, and all the other folks whose business it is to hold babies and shake hands were in attendance, along with a couple hundred builders, developers, and guests. It was a great evening for catching up, talking a little business, eating, and kicking back a few drinks. To sum up the evening in short, Mr. Gerald Thomas (Thomas Construction), the incoming HBA President for 2010, gave a great speech about the successes of the association in 2009 under the leadership of outgoing President Bob Garrett (Atlantic Investments) at a time when the economy has been less than cooperative. Gerald also introduced Congressman Dr. Roe who was the keynote speaker and also installed the Board of Directors for 2010.

And, well, the title for this entry pretty much sums it up for the awards portion of the evening! It was a great surprise to my wife Haize and myself when Bob Garrett presented me with the 2009 Northeast Tennessee Builder of the Year Award. I appreciate the award, and I'm definitely humbled by it. I jokingly said afterward that maybe we won by default because so many builders are out of business now. But, seriously, it's great to be recognized for what you do and what you're passionate about. It has always been our belief that if we have a good (all-inclusive) plan going into every project, and we build or remodel something environmentally and professionally responsibly, and we end up with something where we ourselves would feel good about living or working, then we've accomplished something positive for the area. I feel as though we owe a lot to the folks that we work with daily- Haize of course, Adam Hendrickson, Dave McClelland, Rick Williams, Darrell Brummett, Ryan Williams, Rob Cookenour, subcontractors, and a lot of others who have helped to make our Construction and Remodeling Division what it is. We definitely couldn't have done it without our clients! And if you haven't worked with us before, we're always talking about our slogan The Standard of Comparison, and we take it very seriously- we do a great job.

We have pretty lofty goals, so by no means are we satisfied with where we are at this point, but it is great to be recognized. There's not a lot of productive insight or info for folks that I usually try to provide about real estate or construction in this entry. I'm just taking the opportunity to give all of our folks a big pat on the back. So, thanks again! It looks like that at least in 2009 our slogan has been validated as The Standard of Comparison in Construction and Remodeling.