Basic HTML Version
By Jon Bell
For the HBA
We s t l ake Deve l opment
Group’s 2013 NW Natural Street
of Dreams is called The American
Dream, a title that has less to do
with the classic idea of attain-
ment here in the U.S. and much,
much more about just what the
house is made of.
Every single component of the
home, from the VOC-inhaling Air-
Renew gypsum board drywall to
each and every nail, screw, nut
and bolt, is made right here in
America. As a result, The Ameri-
can Dream is the first-ever “Made
in America” home to be featured
in the NW Natural Street of
Dreams. It’s also Westlakes’s third
such home and the first one ever
certified by the Building a Bet-
ter America Council (BBAC), a
nonprofit organization founded
by Westlakes’s president Gerald
Rowlett. The council promotes
the manufacturing, purchase and
use of American-made products
in the construction industry.
“The impact of using all Amer-
ican-made materials is, we think,
very substantial,” said Rowlett,
who heads up the BBAC. “And
this is the first made in America
home on the Street of Dreams,
which is a pretty big deal.”
Whether made in America
or made right here in Portland,
this year’s NW Natural Street of
Dreams showcases a huge com-
mitment to the buy-local and
support-local movement that has
swept through so many aspects
of daily life over the past few
years, from food and farming to
manufacturing and building.
“We are our own Portland
economy building this house,”
said Tucker Merrihew, owner of
TTM Development Company,
which built The Two Thousand
Thirteen for this year’s NW Natu-
ral Street of Dreams.
Taking an informal look at ev-
erything that went into his tour
home, Merrihew said TTM Devel-
opment was just two vendors shy
of being all American made. And
many of the major components
of the home came from either
in the immediate area or at least
on the West Coast. For example,
$100,000 worth of custom cabi-
nets came straight out of Canby,
which is home to Oregon Custom
Cabinets; all the lumber came
from Parr Lumber and the siding
came from just down the road in
California.
“It really benefits the economy,
and we really like to support
small business,” Merrihew said.
“We try to go as local as we can.
It’s easier for us to navigate the
homebuilding process when our
account means something to
them.”
Ronda Divers, of Lake Oswego-
based Ronda Divers Interiors, has
been working on Haggart Luxury
Homes’ tour house called South-
ern Exposure. The locally-made
products that she’s incorporat-
ing into the home include hand-
crafted furniture from Castellano
HBA
News
HOME BUILDING
HBA
PDX
.
ORG
HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF METROPOLITAN PORTLAND •
AUGUST, 2013
Oh what a night!
This year’s Block Party kicked off
the summer with a carnival theme
and a festive crowd – the biggest
one in history!
— See page 2
By HBA Chief Executive Officer
Dave Nielsen
From
The Top
WHAT ’ S INSIDE THIS MONTH’ S ISSUE
YOUR BUSINESS, page 13
YOUR INDUSTRY, page 11
Jon Chandler delivers
your legislative recap
Jon lets you know about
the high points of the session
that adjourned on July 8 and
updates you on some of the
almost 500 bills the OHBA has
been tracking all session. All
in all, not a bad session for our
industry.
The HBA membership
supports buy local edict
Buying local means different
things to di f ferent HBA
members – but a common
theme binds them all. Working
with other members is a key
point for staying local and
building our local industry and
economy.
UP FRONT, page 6
The 2014 Street of
Dreams site announced
As things heat up at the 2013
NW Natural Street of Dreams
“Stonehenge” the HBA and
our sponsors, NW Natural,
Standard TV & Appliance and
Community Financial/Banner
Bank look ahead to to our 2014
show site in Happy Valley.
UP FRONT, page 9
Rudy Kadlub of Costa
Pacific shares insight
HBA members and their
guests joined us for July’s
Lunch.Learn.Link. featuring
Rudy Kadlub of Costa Pacific
Homes. Rudy made use of his
career in college football to
draw analogies to his business
and team-building style.
Not a charity…a chance!
Portland Rescue Mission Service
residents available and willing to
work for you!
—See page 8
See MADE IN AMERICA/ page 10
This August, our national asso-
ciation (NAHB) brings one of its
conferences to Portland for the
first time in more than a decade.
The Association Leadership In-
stitute (ALI) conference is being
held August 14-17 at the Portland
Hilton (find out more on page 18).
HBA will have several of our
staff and volunteer leaders, in-
cluding two of our Board Offi-
cers, attending this conference.
The conference features big pic-
ture keynotes by speakers from
Nike, IDEO, Propel and CU in the
Moment. It also features a couple
dozen sessions on leadership,
membership, government rela-
tions, social marketing, spokes-
person training, communications
and more.
HBA has been very active in
bringing this conference to Port-
land and helping plan it. We be-
lieve in the value of training our
staff and members to be better
leaders, to gain new ideas, and to
share best practices.
We also are hard at work this
summer identifying future HBA
leaders. Our Nominating Com-
mittee has been meeting to iden-
tify our next Board Officer candi-
date as well as several positions
that will be open for our Board
of Directors. The good news is
we have a lot of interest, and that
bodes well for our future. We also
have been engaging new mem-
bers and younger members in
some of our short-term planning
discussions, giving thema chance
to provide their insight and feed-
back while testing involvement in
HBA without making a long-term
commitment.
While investing in good lead-
ership helps our HBA become
stronger and serve our industry
and members better, it also pays
back. We know that leadership
skills are essential to strong busi-
nesses, and both seasoned and
emerging business owners and
employees want to develop their
potential to be more successful.
We’re glad it’s a two-way street
and are happy to support that.
If you are interested in finding
out about ways HBA can help
you grow or hone your leader-
ship skills, give us a call. We can
help find the right fit that lets us
benefit from your expertise while
connecting your with people and
opportunities that will make you
more successful.
Leadership grows
in Portland
NW Natural Street of Dreams showcases all
things local and all things made in America
This Garrison Hullinger design for Westlake Development’s “The American Dream” includes local products from: Master Woodworks, Salem;
Rejuvenation, Portland; Rogue Valley Doors, Grants Pass; Oregon Custom Cabinets, Canby; and American Barnwood Flooring, Cornelius.