T h e Vo i c e o f
POLK COUNTY BUILDERS ASSOCIATION 2232 Heritage Drive Lakeland, FL 33801
PRESORT STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT#348 LAKELAND FLORIDA
Polk County’s Construction Industry Polk County Builders Association
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PCBA BUILDER OF THE YEAR First Quarter 2013
As a very young child he would wake up before daybreak to go across the road from his home and watch the local dairy farmer work with his cows. His mother never worried, because she always knew where to find him. His Grandfather was a huge influence in this life. He wore his hair in a very big Afro during his high school days. He is a work-a-holic at work and at home. “Sit back and relax” is not a phrase you will find in his vocabulary very often! This master of multi tasking is a true believer of making hay while the sun shines! He can have 14 things going on at the same time, and know the exact status of each one of them at any given time! Just ask him!
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His clients love and appreciate him because of his winning, outgoing personality. They are impressed with his honesty, sincerity and his attention to cost without sacrificing quality! When he does relax, don’t be surprised to find him on a tractor. Running a tractor is not work to him, besides it gives him the opportunity to work on his “farmers tan”.
• New President’s Message • Installation Dinner • A PCBA Homecoming • Parade of Homes Dates
If you want to put a big smile on the face of this devoted family man, just ask about his wife, his 2 daughters or his two grand-girls! He and his lovely wife Jolynn, are the driving force behind the success of their business, Counter Effects by Roger! He has been a member of PCBA since 1999. Roger was President of PCBA in 2011, has chaired the Associate’s Committee, Chaired the Golf Tournament Committee, and served on numerous PCBA Councils and Committees. He can be counted on to help in any way that he is needed at PCBA. Recently he helped with a water leak at the PCBA Office. No job is too small or too big.
Congratulations to the Builder of the Year, Roger Atherton of Counter Effects by Roger!
PCBA ASSOCIATE OF THE YEAR LUCAS MARTIN OF FLORALAWN This guy loves to let the grass grow under his feet! He is very into the outdoors and all the flora and fauna that grows there. In addition, he loves animals, especially Tigers and Cardinals! Now if you are thinking he’s a Detroit Tigers fan or he’s busy putting out bird feeders for cardinals, well you can just forget that stuff. His Tigers are the MIZZOU Tigers at his alma mater, the University of Missouri. The Cardinals of course, are the St Louis variety! Originally from Albany, Missouri, he migrated to Florida and married his lovely wife, Jeanice. They are the proud parents of Ashley, Emily, Carson and Harper. Spare time finds him on the golf course, at the beach, watching sports, or just grilling and hanging out at home and relaxing with his wife and kids. He is a member of Rotary and Rock Community Church. Work days you will find him giving his all at FloraLawn. In addition to his job, he gives endless hours to PCBA. He has co-chaired the golf tournament committee for 4 years, sits on the board of directors and has been Rookie of the Year.
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Congratulations to PCBA’s Associate of the Year, Lucas Martin of FloraLawn.
Calendar of Events JANUARY 2013 January 16
Professional Women in Building
8:30 am/PCBA Office
January 17
Board of Directors Meeting
4:00 pm/PCBA Office
January 22-24
International Builders Show
Las Vegas
FEBRUARY 2013 February 7
Government Affairs Committee
12:00/PCBA Office
February 19
Feb GMM – PCBA Homecoming
5:30 pm/PCBA Office
February 21
Board of Directors Meeting
4:00/PCBA Office
MARCH 2013 March 7
Government Affairs Committee
12:00/PCBA Office
March 21
Board of Directors Meeting
4:00/PCBA Office
March 29
Golf Tournament
11:00 am/Cleveland Heights
OTHER IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER: Southeast Builders Conference (SEBC) July 11-13 Fall Golf Tournament Sept. 13 FHBA Fall Conference October 17-19 Fall Parade of Homes Oct. 19&20 and Oct. 26&27 First Friday November 1
MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE SPRING GOLF TOURNAMENT Friday March 29 at Cleveland Heights Golf Course Please mark your calendar for this event! Watch for registration forms in the mail! 2
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Upcoming Events
President's Message
SPRING PARADE OF HOMES DATES Donʼt let the Parade pass you by!! The Spring Parade of Homes dates are April 20th and 21st and April 27th and 28th. Showcase Home bids are due February 15. A blast email about the Showcase Home will go out on January 17th as a reminder. Look for your Parade package in the mail about March 2nd.
POLK COUNTY BUILDERS ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President
Brian Walsh Highland Homes
President Elect
William Webb Webb Homebuilders Group, Inc.
1st Vice President
Mark Hulbert Hulbert Homes, Inc.
2nd Vice President
Keith Combee Combee Insulation Co., Inc.
Secretary/Treasurer
Greg Sanoba The Sanoba Law Firm
Immediate Past President
Sean Harper Harper Homes, L.L.C.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Duane McQuillen Duane McQuillen Construction
Lucas Martin FloraLawn, Inc.
Rob Nunez R. Nunez Homes
Kylie Guess Republic Services, Inc.
Richie Johnson Southern Homes
Roger Atherton Counter Effects by Roger
Blaine Carter Carter Engineering
Tim Davis ValuePro Remodeling and Maintenance
Todd Shuff Carpenter Contractors of America
NAHB DIRECTORS Mike Hickman Donnie Tyler / Life Director
Dave Carter Robert Harper
FHBA DIRECTORS Builder Directors: Sean Harper William Webb
Associate Directors: Michael Flood Keith Combee
FHBA LIFE DIRECTORS Dave Carter Robert Harper Donnie Tyler Mike Hickman
Gary Clements Don Paris Marc Boney
Brian Walsh Highland Homes
What a great Holiday/Induction Banquet we had in December. It is great to see such support and camaraderie during this wonderful time of the year. I want to thank Sean Harper for a great job leading this Organization over the last year and I look forward to consulting with him in the coming year.
The beginning of a new year brings with it a lot of changes. This year we are looking forward to some great new changes. With predictions of an improving construction environment, we are planning to leverage these improvements and begin to grow our Association. Growth with limited funds and personnel will require a huge amount of team work from all of our members. Lucky for us, Team Work is what this Association was built from. I encourage each member to recruit an additional member to join our Association. There are strength in numbers and the more members we have the stronger we will be. Additionally, I challenge all of our members to think “outside of the box” and make suggestions to the Association to increase participation in our Special Events and General Membership Meetings, and to make our Association better. A few of the benefits of membership in the PCBA include networking, lobbying on the local and state level, and discounts and rebates. Additional benefits extend past Polk County and provide members support from the Florida Home Builders Association and the National Association of Home Builders. Let’s all make a commitment and make this year the starting point of many years of growth to come!
PCBA STAFF Stephanie Hutton Pat Edleman
Executive Director Membership & Special Events
Phone: 863.665.0844 • Fax: 863.667.9956 2232 Heritage Drive Lakeland, Florida 33801
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Feel free to contact Brian at: President@PCBA.com with any questions or concerns regarding the PCBA.
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New Rebate Program INTRODUCING FLORIDA’S BUILDER MEMBER REBATE PROGRAM Free Member Benefit That Puts Cash In Your Pocket No one like to leave money on the table. So, what would you think if you could get a rebate for your loyalty to many of the nation’s leading housing industry product suppliers? Well, now you can! We’re happy to introduce the FHBA Member Rebate Program, aimed at increasing your bottom line. For the minimal effort of informing us about the home construction products you use and when you close on a home or project, you’ll be putting money back in your pocket. Both Builder & Remodeler companies, no matter how large or small, qualify for the program. When you participate in the program, you can count on receiving checks every quarter! Participation is easy and free – You can register & complete the Rebate Claim form at www.HBArebates.com To start receiving your rebate, please register (tells us where to mail the check) and submit the Rebate Claim Form. Have a question? Contact Program Administrator: Rich Robinson 866-849-8400 or info@HBArebates.com
PWB Meeting at the PCBA office on January 16th at 8:30 am 4
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PCBA Rookie Of The Year
Government Affairs
The Rookie of the Year is an accomplished award winning wood carver and engraver. Her specialty is beautifully carved wildlife scenes on the stocks of fine guns and metal engraving on custom made knives. Gun shows throughout the area have featured carvings by her. In addition to wood and metal, she carves on egg shells, and has done an egg shell carving for Mrs. Norman Schwartzkoff. She got their start in the cabinet business at Scotties in Winter Haven selling cabinets and flooring. When Scotties closed, she went into business for herself and opened Catharine’s Classic Kitchens. Today her business has received numerous awards for designing custom kitchens in the local Parade of Homes. New construction, remodeling and happy satisfied customers are what she does best! This Georgia Peach was born in Macon, Georgia and moved to Gainesville, Florida at the age of 4. She graduated from St Johns River Junior College in Palatka, Florida. Palatka is also where she meet Jim, her devoted husband of 27 years. She has one daughter. She serves on several committees at PCBA, and volunteers regularly for our many events. Congratulations to PCBA’s Rookie of the Year, Catharine Lawhon of Catharine’s Classic Kitchens.
DID YOU KNOW? As a member of PCBA you can receive a copy of the county’s monthly building permit report by simply requesting it. Please contact Pat at PCBA at 665-0844 or email pate@pcba.com. Give her the email address that you want the report to go to and she will forward a copy to you. You will receive the report each month via email. The permit report is a list of all building permits issued for the county for the month. The permits are listed by subdivision name, address, builder, square footage, and declared value. The report includes residential and commercial permits.
Builders & Buyers Bypass Budget Bullet The mortgage interest deduction (MID) cost the US Treasury $88.8 billion in 2011, making it the second largest tax break for individuals. That is precisely why the Congress has its sights set on it. However, there is much debate about how to reduce its costs to the Treasury and by how much. No matter what happens, reducing the MID will lower some house prices. That being said, how the Congress reduces the MID will determine how much how many houses lose value. And since so many of us own a home, sell homes or build homes, the MID will not be singled out for special treatment. Rather, the Congress will cap or phaseout the value of all deductions, and in that way avoid favoring one deduction over another. While there are several possible approaches, the fiscal cliff compromise bill passed into law on January 2nd of this year phases out itemized deductions for households with incomes over $300,000. While at first blush this may appear to be quite damaging, I think homeowners, realtors, builders, and the entire housing industry have all dodged a bullet and should sleep well for quite a while, or at least until the Congress reopens debate on the tax code sometime in the future. Phasing out Schedule A deductions for couples with incomes over $300,000 limits the impact to buyers of only the most expensive houses. For example, with a 10% down-payment on a $1,500,000 house, mortgage interest would be $54,000/year, property taxes would average $16,500, and insurance would be about $8,000, totaling $78,500 in annual housing-related expenses. To finance that mortgage, the $78,500 should ideally not be more than 30% of gross income, which means qualifying requires having an annual income of roughly $260,000; comfortably below the income level at which deductions start phasing out. That being said, how much will a house valued at $2,000,000 decline? By very little! In theory it will fall by the one-time lump-sum amount necessary to compensate buyers for the new income taxes they will pay due to their being at or above the phaseout threshold. With interest rates currently at 4%, this means, and trust me on this, every $1,000 in added income taxes reduces the house price by ($1,000/4% or) $25,000. However, in reality, these impacts will be dramatically mitigated by tax avoidance strategies available to the very wealthy including systematically larger down-payments, cash purchases, corporate purchases and so on. In short, few homeowners will be impacted by the new tax treatment of deductions including the MID. For households with incomes below $300,000, there are no impacts stemming from this change and for those with higher incomes, the impacts will largely be mitigated by tax avoidance behavior. At worst, only homes worth well over a million dollars will be adversely affected. With huge deficits as far as the eye can see, the tax treatment of deductions is sure to continue to change and evolve. Enjoy the debate, but be aware that next time you may be on the menu.
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. is President of GraphsandLaughs, LLC and can be reached at Elliot@graphsandlaughs.net. His daily 70 word economics and policy blog can be seen at
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PCBA Installation Dinner PCBA Volunteer of the Year
HISTORY IN THE MAKING!
DECEMBER 4TH, 2012 LAKELAND YACHT AND COUNTRY CLUB LAKE HOLLINGSWORTH DRIVE Lori Fraser of WebPro Realty was named volunteer of the Year at the Polk County Builders Association installation Dinner at The Lakeland Yacht Club on December 4th. . Homes Harper f o C r M e kG arp Sean H of Kelley Buic rvices e in S rt c a li M b JC Repu f o s s e u Kylie G
Catharin e Lawho Kitchens n of Catharine’s Rookie Classic of the Y Sean H ear arper H arper H omes
Lori has been a volunteer for the Gift Basket Bonanza, The Golf Tournament, the Parade of Homes, and several other PCBA events.
There were 16 past PCBA Presidents in attendance at the December 4th PCBA Installation dinner at the Lakeland Yacht Club. History was made when Brian Walsh of Highland Homes was installed as PCBA President for 2013. Brian is the 4th person from Highland Homes to serve as President of this association. Clayton Skinner – 1973 Bob Adams – 1981 George Lindsey – 1984 Robert Harper – 1989 Donnie Tyler – 1991 & 1997 Chuck Hunt – 1995 & 2000 Mike Hickman – 1996 David Carter – 1999 Greg Masters – 2003 Brian Waller – 2004 Joel Adams – 2005 AJ Maqueira – 2007 Tim Davis – 2008 Roger Atherton – 2011 Sean Harper – 2012
e Year te of th ia c o s s nA s, Floralaw ighland Home H artin of f M o s h a t ls c Lu an Wa residen and Bri ming PCBA P inco
Stephanie Catlett Mid Flo rida Credit Union and Roger Atherton, Builder of the Year
Left to right Sean Harper Harper Homes, Phillip Olivera Olivera Construction, and Roger Atherton Counter Effects by Roger
Builder of the Year: Roger Atherton, Counter Effects by Roger Associate of the Year: Lucas Martin, Floralawn Volunteer of the Year: Lori Fraser, WebPro Realty Big Spike Retention: Greg Masters, Southern Homes Big Spike Recruitment: Sean Harper, Harper Homes Rookie of the Year: Catharine Lawhon, Catharine’s Classic Kitchens Life Directors: Nan Webster, Integrity First Title Roger Atherton: Counter Effects by Roger President Plaque with Gavel: Sean Harper, Harper Homes PCBA Foundation President: JC Martin, Kelley Buick GMC of Bartow
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