An Evening of All-Stars

The National Association of Home Builders Remodelers held its 2019 All Stars Celebration the evening of Feb. 19, closing out the first day of the annual International Builders’ Show. Hosted at the Las Vegas International Golf Course, this year’s celebration featured great conversation, Vegas’s own Tony Bennett (impersonator), and inspiring winners across the board. Awards presented include the CADREs, Homes for Life, and the NAHB Remodeler of the Year. One member was also inducted into the National Remodeling Hall of Fame during the ceremony.

Up first: the Council Awards for Demonstrating Remodeling Excellence (CADREs). These awards recognize local NAHB Remodelers councils and their leaders whose work exemplifies best practices of the remodeling industry. 

The 2018 CADRE award winners are as follows:

For Public Relations and Promotion: Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties

For Community Service Project: Home Builders Association (HBA) of Fargo-Moorehead

For Membership Recruitment & Retention: HBA of Greater Tulsa Remodelers Council

For Member Services and Education: Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders Remodelers Council

For Outstanding Associate Member: Zeke Keel, of the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders Remodelers Council

For Outstanding Council Coordinator: Donna Buenik, of the Greater Houston Builders Association

For Outstanding Council Chair: Kevin Vick, of the Greater Houston Builders Association

After the CADREs came the Homes for Life awards, sponsored by Professional Remodeler, in recognition of excellence in aging-in-place designs and accessible home modifications in a remodeled home. The 2018 Homes for Life awards were opened to non-CAPS designees for the first time, and entries submitted by a CAPS designee were automatically entered into a new category for Best Overall CAPS Design Project.

The 2018 Homes for Life awards winners are as follows:

For Kitchen Remodel: Jeni Finnigan, of Unbounded Spaces, and Amie Faust, of Half Dozen Designs

For Whole House/Multi-Room Remodel: Bonnie J. Lewis, of 55+ TLC Interior Design

For Multi-Generational Remodel: Dave Myllymaki, of ReNew Creations

For Bath Remodel: Bonnie J. Lewis, of 55+ TLC Interior Design

For Best Overall CAPS Design: Iris Chadhab, of Windows to the Walls Interiors

Following the Homes for Life awards, NAHB Chair Joanne Theunissen presented the NAHB Remodeler of the Year award to Leo Lantz, founder and owner of Leo Lantz Construction near Richmond, Va. Lantz has over 29 years of remodeling experience and has been a member of the HBA of Richmond (HBAR) and NAHB Remodelers for the past nine. He is a three-time winner of the HBAR Remodeler of the Year award and served as the inaugural chair of the HBAR’s Remodelers Council, where he helped recruit more than 25 members in less than nine months.

The final honor of the night, induction into the prestigious National Remodeling Hall of Fame, went to Paul Sullivan. He has been an NAHB Remodelers member since 1993 and twice served as the remodelers council chair and local president of the Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston. In recent years, Sullivan was a key player in lobbying NAHB senior staff and officers to create a remodeled home separate from the New American Home at IBS; the first New American Remodel was produced in 2017 in Orlando, Fla.

To close out the night, 2018 NAHB First Vice-Chair, Greg Ugalde, swore in the NAHB Remodelers’ 2019 leadership team: Tim Ellis, as Chair; Tom Ashley Jr., as First Vice-Chair; and Kert Sloan, as Second Vice-Chair.