FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Nona Raybern, Public Relations & Media Manager
Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties
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Master Builders Association Announces 2020 Award Winners

BELLEVUE, Wash.—December 18, 2020—The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) announced its 2020 winners at their annual end of year awards gala on Thursday, December 17. This year’s gala was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring skits, year-end retrospectives, and an awards show.

Each year, MBAKS recognizes members in eight different categories: Spirit of Service, Emerging Leader, Built Green Moving the Market, Associate of the Year, Remodeler of the Year, Builder of the Year, Exceptional Service, and the MBAKS Hall of Fame Award. Winners are decided through an open member nomination and awards committee process.

Here are 2020’s winners:

Joe Reed, Home Run Solutions, Mill Creek, WA

Spirit of Service Award

The Spirit of Service award exemplifies members who go above and beyond to give back to the communities where they do business.

Joe Reed dedicated extra time and effort in our 2019 Rampathon event to find solutions for a mobility ramp that faced extra permitting challenges. Thanks to his efforts, a family now has the ramp they need and solved a critical mobility concern.

Leann McNabb, CW Title and Escrow, Bellevue, WA

Emerging Leader Award

The Emerging Leader award is dedicated to those in the housing industry who are forward thinkers and a demonstrate a willingness to be involved at a higher level.

Leann McNabb served as 2019 chair of the MBAKS Professional Women in Building chapter and continues to dedicate her time to the uplifting of women in the housing community. She is one of the youngest women to serve as PWB Chair in MBAKS’ history.

Ted Clifton, TC Legend Homes, Bellingham, WA

Built Green Moving the Market Award

TC Legend Homes was granted the 20,000th certification of Built Green, the MBAKS green building program. For this reason, Ted Clifton and TC Legend Homes have won the Moving the Market award.

Their progressive work in green building, including making their IP public for other builders, makes them well deserving of this prestigious distinction.

Clay White, LDC Inc., Woodinville, WA

2020 Associate of the Year

The Associate of the Year award is dedicated to non-builder MBAKS members who have made an impact on the association and its work.

Clay White has served as an MBAKS board member for the last two years, currently serves on the MBAKS Housing Policy Committee, and actively dedicates time to MBAKS Hill Day, where our members and staff meet with legislators to advance housing legislation in the Puget Sound. In 2017, he was a key presenter at our Housing Summit and spoke on addressing the housing crisis in our region.

Ron Palmer, Palmer Residential, Seattle, WA

2020 Remodeler of the Year

The Remodeler of the Year award is presented to leaders in the remodeling industry, who display an exemplary talent in their work.

A long-standing Remodelers Excellence (REX) winner, Ron Palmer shows an exemplary ability for creating new spaces and incorporating progressive design elements. Founded in 2007, his company’s core values include pride in the connections their build with clients, communication, and craftsmanship. Not only dedicated to delivering an exceptional project for their clients, he is also passionate about advocating for the building industry through his support of the Affordable Housing Council.

Trevor Johnson, Blackwood Builders, Lynnwood, WA

2020 Builder of the Year

The Builder of the Year award doesn’t just go to members with exceptional building capabilities, but to those members who go beyond and are leaders within the industry.

Trevor Johnson dedicates time throughout the association and its many facets, exemplifying our core mission and values, from chairing the Affordable Housing Council in 2020, advocating with elected officials to create much-needed housing in our region, and his extensive participation in community stewardship projects with WELD Seattle, New Beginnings, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dwellings, and more.

Erich Armbruster, Ashworth Homes, Shoreline, WA

Exceptional Service Award

The Exceptional Service award is the highest recognition award for members and staff for their many years of professional leadership and/or exemplary service to MBAKS.

Erich Armbruster is an exquisitely experienced leader in the housing industry and the association. His achievements are long—years of service on the MBAKS board of directors, including as President in 2018, as well as serving in the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). He has been a consistent voice for engaging with our regional partners to provide a better future for our region’s residents, ushering in an era at MBAKS that saw a higher engagement with pro-housing legislators. He is an irreplaceable asset for the building community in Washington state and beyond.

Joe Reed, Home Run Solutions, Mill Creek, WA

MBAKS Hall of Fame

The purpose of the MBAKS Hall of Fame award is to honor people who have made significant and lasting contributions to our association.

Over the course of his impressive career, Gary Young has made a significant impact on the local homebuilding industry. His commitment not only to the industry, but also to the people that make up this industry, is unmatched. He has been a member of the Affordable Housing Council since 2000, served as a trustee for Rainier Scholars, a nonprofit that offers a pathway to college for low-income students of color by providing access to transformative educational opportunities, played a key role in condo reform in Washington state, and has a strong focus in sustainable building efforts through Built Green.

For more information on this release or for higher resolution photos, contact Nona Raybern at pr@mbaks.com

About MBAKS

Founded in 1909 and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) is the nation’s oldest and largest local homebuilders association. Like our founders, our members continue to take a leading role in all facets of homebuilding and support the planning for a growing region. From new technology to advances in sustainability, from collaborative public policy efforts to investing in our communities, our commitment to a thriving, inclusive, and well-planned region never wavers. We are the professional homebuilders, architects, remodelers, tradespeople (carpenters, framers, roofers, plumbers, electricians), planners and engineers, suppliers, manufacturers, and sales and marketing professionals in your community who believe everyone deserves access to a healthy and productive place to call home.

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This week, Shannon talks to this year's Spirit of Service Award winner, Mark Huber with Huber's Custom Building.

More about the Spirit of Service Award

A LEGACY OF BUILDING IN THE PUGET SOUND

Bellevue-based BDR Companies provides investment, development, and home construction in the Puget Sound area. With highly respected backgrounds in the residential development community, BDR executives have been recognized with major industry awards, including national Gold Nugget Awards for building excellence, Builder of the Year (twice), more than 100 industry-wide MAME Awards, and numerous Built Green recognitions.

Todd Bennett is the founder and president of BDR Companies. Prior to that, he was a principal in Bennett Homes for 30 years. In his current role, Todd puts together developer partnerships for BDR’s residential building projects. “Our partnerships mostly build homes. We have two groups: BDR Homes for homes priced under two million and BDR Fine Homes for homes priced over two million.”

MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN THE MBA HEALTH TRUST

Between Bennett Homes and BDR, Todd has been a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) for 34 years (once serving as President) and the MBA Health Trust for 21 years. “MBA’s health insurance is a big benefit for us,” says Todd. “We’ve used the Trust from the beginning. All of our employees are on our plan now. We’ve always been able to provide good coverage for them. And it’s affordable for us.”

SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS

The MBA Health Trust has provided Todd and his companies with consistently lower premiums. “We’ve looked at other health insurance providers, but we’ve never been able to get the same combination of cost savings plus benefits,” he says. “The MBA plan has consistently been 10-15 percent less cost, even with the big increases in health insurance premiums since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

REGENCE BLUESHIELD “KEEPS IT SIMPLE”

Regence BlueShield is the MBA Health Trust’s insurance partner, and Todd has had good experiences with them over the years. “The Regence plan is flexible. So far, we haven’t had a hitch at all on who we can use and what’s covered—even with large medical issues. Regence has covered most everything so far and kept it simple.”

MBA MEMBER BENEFITS ALSO INCLUDE BUILDER ADVOCACY

In addition to the MBA Health Trust, Todd’s long membership in the MBA has helped his business in other ways. Todd says the MBA has a very strong government relations group. “A great benefit to MBA membership is the advocacy role the MBA plays,” he says. “We get a common voice in the industry. Local municipalities listen to the MBA. That’s a primary benefit from a builder standpoint. The MBA gives the builders more of a collective voice. It’s very powerful. The MBA has helped get code changes that benefit the home building industry adopted, for example.”

CITIES LISTEN, PROCESSES ARE EXPEDITED

Todd cites challenges with some cities and how the MBA interceded. “We were having slowdowns with building permits and the MBA got involved and arranged a meeting with city officials. This got the process moving forward quicker.”