BuildersOutlook12.11

Awards

The much anticipated awards of

the year were given during the

installation and awards dinner on

Thursday, December 8.

Named Builder Member of the

Year was Greg Bowling,

Tropicana Homes. His award was

presented by his two brothers

Bobby IV and Randy.

Named Associate of the Year for

the second time was Sam

Shallenberger, Western Wholesale

Supply inc.. The award was

presented by Burt Blacksher of

Bank of the West.

The Pat Cox Lifetime

Achievement Award went to Kathy

Parry, Hunt Communities. The

award was presented by Past

President Mark Dyer of

Winton/Flair Homes.

The John Schatzman award for

Community was presented to Bob

Bowling III, Tropicana

Development. The award was

presented by Ray Adauto.

A special Star of the EPAB award

was made to Rudy Guel for his

continuing contributions to the

association. The award was

presented by Greg Bowling.

(above)

Each year the association is

pleased to present the best of the

best with these prestigious awards.

Time, dedication, are just a couple

of the criteria that is looked at

when choosing the award recipient.

Congratulations to each of the

winners.

Above: EPAB 2012 Leadership

from left to right: 2012 Executive

Officers, Associates Chair: Sam

Shallenberger, Western Wholesale

Supply, Vice President: Edmundo

Dena, Accent Homes, President:

Frank Arroyos, Cisco Homes

Sec/Tres: Frank Torres, GMF

Homes, Immediate Past President:

Greg Bowling, Tropicana Homes

Executive Vice President: Ray

Adauto

More photos of the evening’s

events can be found on page 9 .

Issue 12 2011 Building El Paso’s tomorrow today

years

E L P A S O

BUILDERSA S S O C I A T I O N O F

B U I L D I N G E L PA S O ’ S F U T U R E S I N C E 194 6

Builders Outlook

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www.elpasobuilders.com

2012 leadership and Board installed, awards presentedThursday December 8 the El Paso

Association of Builders installed the

incoming 2012 Executive officers

and Board of Directors. A good

crowd of over 200 witnessed the

installation at the Centennial Club

located at Biggs Field, Fort Bliss,

Texas. The room was full of festive

and bright colored decorations,

women dressed in fine cocktail

outfits and guys in suits and ties

looking dapper. The installation

officer for the evening was past

President Mike Santamaria who

swore the incoming board first then

tackled the incoming executive.

Mike reminded the boards to what

they were entering into including the

responsibility of leadership in all

endeavors of and for the association.

Outgoing President Greg Bowling

gave a farewell address, noting the

difficulties encountered by him and

the members when two of the

previous executive members bolted

in October of 2010. Greg assumed

the presidency at that time and

worked hard to normalize the

association and build on it’s

strengths. He thanked Del Huit who

stepped into the Vice Presidency and

remained in that position for six

months while Frank Arroyos got up

to speed. Greg also thanked his own

contingent of past presidents at

home, dad Bob, and brothers

Bobby and Randy. Greg was

presented with a scrapbook of

memories along with a very

handsome leather brief case and

some Houston Astros items. Greg

is a fan of the Astros even though

his brothers are more into the Texas

Rangers as was noted.

After the executive was sworn in

it was time for Frank Arroyos to

give his talk on what he envisions

2012 to be like under his

leadership. It was clear from his

remarks that he will continue to

build on the business relationships

with the Greater Chamber, the

Hispanic Chamber, GEPAR and

the Association of Associations.

Turning to City of El Paso

Representative Carl Robinson

Frank spoke about his ambition to

keep the lines of communication

open and flowing between the

EPAB and the City of El Paso. To

the military he offered support and

prayers and extended a hand of

friendship. He gave thanks to those

stationed at Fort Bliss and

surrounding areas. He will be

joined in his journey by his wife

Ruth, as she takes on the

responsibility of first lady of the

EPAB.

Builders Outlook2 ISSUE 12 2011

It’s hard to believe that the end of 2011 is

already here and with it the end of my year as

President of EPAB. In late 2008 I started this

journey when I agreed to serve on the

Executive Ladder for EPAB. As I think back

to where we were as both a Home Building

industry and an Association in late 2008 and

to where we are now, I’m shocked at how

much has changed and all we’ve endured.

Three years ago we were still experiencing

the tail end of one of the greatest housing

markets in the history of our country. Little

did we know at the time that the housing

bubble was bursting and the “Great

Recession” was just beginning. And with

this Great Recession was one of the worst

and most prolonged down housing markets in

the history of our country. As builders we’ve

had to navigate this economy while losing

instruments such the Texas Residential

Construction Commission and to trying to

absorb or fend off what seems like an attempt

to implement every fee, tax or added cost

possible on the building and development

industry.

Just like our personal businesses, EPAB

has also had to navigate this terrible

economy. We’ve been stuck trying to offset

or absorb the loss of revenue and

membership that comes with a bad economy.

We’ve had to deal with turnover on our

Executive Board, paying for a new building,

and most importantly trying to do all we can

to serve our members with limited resources.

To say it has been a challenge to us all both

professionally and as an Association would

be an understatement. Yet somehow, through

all this our Association has not only survived

but it has also found ways to thrive. Let’s

look back at just a few of the things we’ve

still managed to accomplish over the last few

years:

On the national level the National

Association of Home Builders remains one of

the largest lobbying associations in the

country today. Through NAHB’s lobbying

efforts FHA loan limits have been raised,

they’ve fought to keep the mortgage interest

deduction for home owners, and they are

currently working on improving the appraisal

process for all of us. They do all this

nationally while constantly working with

agencies like OSHA and the EPA for a more

beneficial relationship. A relationship that

works towards accomplishing the things

those agencies are established for-things like

jobsite safety and environmental protection,

rather than just using their power to exert

fines to raise money to fund their bloated

agencies on the backs of our homebuilding

and development industry.

On the State level the Texas Association of

Builders (with the help of many of our local

members taking the time to travel to Austin

on their own dime) has helped lead the way

in keeping Texas the most builder friendly

and business friendly state in the country.

TAB has worked in recent years to keep

things like fire sprinklers as an option in

single family housing rather than making it

mandatory in Texas. TAB has been

instrumental on limiting the government

eminent domain powers for public use

projects only, and has helped back many of

the Tort reform laws that have been passed in

Texas like our new loser pays law. Lastly,

TAB has helped stop county ordinance

making authority which we fear will only

impose more fees and unnecessary costs on

builders and developers. We’ve given the

builder’s perspective that enforcing existing

laws to stop bad building practices is always

better than establishing more government

agencies and bureaucracy.

Finally on the local level, our Association

members represent our interests on numerous

Council and Advisory Committees to make

sure our voices are heard. We were

instrumental in keeping impact fees

reasonable and making sure state laws are

followed in the enforcement of these fees.

We’ve worked with the City to allow 3rd

party plan review and inspections for our

homes, and we continue to work with them

on how to make the ordinance better for both

the City and our industry. We participated in

the review of the new 2009 Residential

Building Code before it was put into place

and worked with the City on local

enforcement policies and local amendments

to this code. We have worked to keep

government imposed costs from affecting

housing on all levels such as keeping

sidewalks at 5 feet rather than 6 feet, and

working with City planners to not make

almost every floor plan built in El Paso

obsolete by requiring the front door to be the

furthest thing forward on a house. Our Land

Use Council has put in countless hours

working on the subdivision rewrite

committee and working with the new FEMA

maps to help make sure that building and

development in certain areas of El Paso is

still possible. We shed light on the negative

effects of the recently imposed $50,000

surety bond for builders in El Paso and got

the City to agree to reduce it to $25,000 and

to exempt contractors for many smaller jobs.

We have provided education for our

membership, webinars, networking

opportunities, and fun events that benefit our

community such as participating in the Sun

Bowl Parade and sponsoring the Adams Golf

Tour Desert Classic which is the only

professional golf event in El Paso. Lastly, we

held our first ever local Rally Day where

together with that event and through our

Political Action Committee (Build PAC) for

the first time in a long time, we helped make

sure that this most recent local election

affected our industry and all business in a

positive way rather than negative.

As you can see whether you’re a builder,

developer, or one of our associates you only

have to start putting dollar amounts to all

that’s been accomplished the last few years to

see just how much EPAB does to keep home

construction a viable industry. Can you

imagine what the home building industry

would look like today without NAHB, TAB,

and EPAB to advocate for it? The industry as

we know it simply would not exist.

Unfortunately as we all know, some in our

industry choose to take a free ride and not be

members of our Association. Luckily for

them, they have all our members who choose

to carry the load and pay the bill for

everyone. So in my last monthly article, if I

could ask one last thing of everyone going

forward: I ask that you please support our

association, support our members, and make

it a policy to only do business with members

of EPAB. Because without our Association

the single family housing industry that we all

know and depend on simply would not exist

in the fashion it does.

Lastly, I want to thank all of our Board

members, Executive Board, Past Presidents,

financial supporters and EPAB staff for 2011.

You served our industry and your Association

well and made this an incredibly successful

year. I feel confident that we’ve left this a

stronger and better housing industry and

EPAB than we found it and I thank you all for

that. Now on to bigger and better things in

2012!

Builders Outlook3

Greg

Bowling

President,

El Paso Association

of Builders

President’s Message

Builders Outlook 5Issue 12 2011

Time flies and no one escapes. This yearwe’ve had our ups and downs and our allaround. Nothing could have predicted thatwe would still be in a recession in 2011, butwe are. The new home building business isstill tough and getting tougher. Lots of talkfrom politicians and the like, but they aredoing little or nothing to help. Don’t reallyknow if they can help anymore. Seems likeonce again the people doing the work willend up being the ones to get us out of therecession because we need to work and weneed to do for ours.

Politics aside for a minute I’d like to taketime out to thank our members for stickingit out with us. We have had one of the mostsuccessful 12 months in the history of theassociation thanks to much hard work. Oursuccess has been really twofold: First weare still alive and doing. There was a groupof folks who wrote us off about 18 monthsago. They forgot that we have winners inthis camp, the strongest of the strong withvalues of hard work, professionalism, andcompassion. Secondly, we did wellpolitically. At the state legislature we didwell by blocking laws that would havedamaged home building in Texas. Locallywe held our own in the election of new city

councilors and in getting in on boards andcouncils. We also brought home the issueof jobs to the city leaders, and how thosejobs would be affected by poor ordinancesand increased fees. The big builders helpedthe little builders by working to get therequired construction bond reduced from$50K to $25K and getting the city to adoptthe amended 2009 IRC. The savings to anaverage home builder is in the thousands,yet we still have people say they don’tknow if they got their membership value.Really?

For associates, largest membershipgroup, it’s just as important. Your businessdepends on builder business in some wayor another. By the work we’ve done as afederation the new home-remodeling-development business is going in El Paso.It will get better, it has to. So keep up thesupport of this organization by yourmembership and encourage others to do thesame. Don’t allow those who freeload onyour backs tell you they can’t or won’t join.If they are working here it’s because of thework we do here, there and everywhere.

The saying is that as one gets older thattime flies by faster. I can attest to that.Each time that December comes around Ihave to gather my thoughts and give thanksfor what I have, and I have much. It’s asentimental time for me as I will always tiein the Christmas-New Year time as one inwhich I lost my parents, my dad onChristmas day followed in a week by mymother on New Year’s night. It is twelveyears ago that I became an orphan afterbeing blessed by God for having given meboth of them to me for so long. Alex andJosephine were a love story until death.

Sixty six years of marriage happily formost of those. Alzheimer’s took my mom afull two years before her death and Dadsuffered through that until he just got tired.They loved to dance and to have friendsand family over. Just like many of thatGreatest Generation, they reveled in thesimple things like love, family, God. Fittingthat my Dad would leave this world onChristmas day. It was the ultimate gift hecould give us. As for mom, I’m sure Dadcalled her to that New Year’s dance one lasttime and for eternity. I miss them. I willalways miss them.

Finally thanks to Greg Bowling. I mean

big, fat, juicy thanks to him for doing areally great job as president. He has beenall that and more during a rocky time in ourhistory. Thanks to Del Huit for stepping inwhen others stepped out. Like the Marinehe is there was never going to be a momentwhen he would let us down. Thanks toKelly Sorenson for holding the title ofimmediate past president longer than anyother. Thanks also to the past Presidentscouncil for their leadership and faith. Mostof all thanks to all of you members forsticking it out with us and making usstronger. Watch out 2012. Here we come.

Perspective

Ray Adauto,

Executive

Vice President

EPAB

Years get shorter; thoughts about 2011 and more

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4655 Cohen • El Paso, Texas • 79924 • 915-821-3550 • www.tropicanahomes.com

A tradition of Excellence for over 60 Years

With sixty years of experience and over10,000 quality homes built in El Paso,Tropicana Homes has become a namesynonymous with quality construction. Asthey continue to grow and expand,community involvement remains a toppriority. Their commitment to the industryand community has made TropicanaHomes the premier builder in El Paso.

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BUILDERSA S S o C I A T I o n o F


The El Paso Association of

Builders would like to thank the

following comnpanies for their

generous support of our 2011

Installation and Awards banquet

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Builders Outlook 7ISSUE 12 2011

Chente Quintanilla

State Representative

Guest Perspective

A very important issue that was

addressed in the legislature this past

session was redistricting. The House of

Representatives and the Senate approved

new boundaries for their districts. Many of

those districts were contested by several

groups.

Redistricting is not an easy task. On the

one side, political interests come into play.

On the other side, certain racial or

communities of interest come into play.

The basis for the contests that were filed

alleged that the maps were drawn in the

interest of one political party at the expense

of the voting rights of minorities.

The courts and the Department of Justice

have been reviewing maps and testimony

for several months. The federal court

hearing the arguments determined that the

conflicts were too extensive for a judgment

at this time. In other words, after additional

months of testimony and submissions of

evidence, the court will be in a better

position to rule on the legal arguments.

Last week, the court issued

recommended interim maps that, if

approved, would contain the boundaries for

the primary and general election in 2012.

Although it was my feeling that the

boundaries in El Paso would be unaltered,

the court did find cause to amend the

boundaries between districts 77 and 78;

districts in central and west El Paso

County.

The El Paso delegation unanimously,

and in the interest of continued harmony,

approved five district boundaries that were

desired by each member. The court altered

the original maps in such a way as to make

it more difficult for the incumbent in

district 78. The changes were based on a

balance of minority voters in both district

77 and 78.

In the same process, the districts in other

counties were also changed. Apparently

the judges had reason to believe that

specific boundaries violated the rights of

Hispanic communities of interest to elect a

candidate of their choice based on shared

values.

If the recommended interim boundaries

remain, many experts believe that the

current imbalance in the House

membership, 101 Republicans and 49

Democrats, could be reduced immediately

with complete parity after subsequent

election cycles.

The process is of course necessary

because of court cases in several states

where judgments decreed voting rights

violations. There are concerns that several

steps in the last session may result in

Hispanic voters finding their right to vote

impeded.

Whatever the outcome of the court cases

and the reviews by the Department of

Justice, the 2012 elections are being

impacted.

Already, the filing period for candidates

has been reduced partly because of the

redistricting and also because the final

filing day was changed to an earlier date.

The El Paso County Elections Department

has found it difficult to finalize voting

precincts with all of the changes that have

occurred in the past 6 months.

At one point, the Elections Director,

Javier Chacon, presented to the

Commissioners a map of voting precincts

that culminated many, many hours of work

by his staff. Now the interim maps have

created the need for even more changes.

We should be very appreciative of the

director and his staff for their hard work in

service to El Paso voters.

Redistricting is not an easy task

11395 James Watt, Suite A-11 79936915-633-8002

EPABON THE SCENE

First Light Federal

C U Sun Bowl

Parade. We made

history.

The float going down Montana Avenue

on Thanksgiving Day was surrounded by

dozens of members and their kids or

grandkids. It was the culmination of

weeks of work by an army of volunteers

who gave time, talent and money to make

it happen. The EPAB proudly brought a

ray of sunshine to kids of all ages with our

“Building Dreams under the Sun” ginger-

bread house float.

The float was conceived by Ray

Adauto, and the construction design work

was done by Gus Loy of Tropicana

Homes. The float decoration was turned

over to Ted Escobedo of Snappy

Publishing along with help from

Tropicana homes.

A trailer was secured from Frank

Arroyos at Cisco Homes, along with a

construction site behind Western

Wholesale. Materials for the frame were

gotten by Tropicana Homes through

Foxworth Galbraith Lumber; paint came

from Sherwin Williams; carpeting from

Carpets West; pvc pipe and holders from

Ferguson Supply; foam board from DWS;

foam, wind turbines, paint, utility knife

and tape from BMC Select; a cash dona-

tion from Mountain Vista Builders; labor

and materials for the tow truck build came

from Rudy Guel Construction; the tow

truck and tow driver was from Western

Wholesale Supply, Sam Shallenberger;

volunteer help from Winton Homes,

Tropicana Homes, Juan Hernandez con-

struction, Rob Tollen (New Era Foam),

Eduardo Blanco of Blanco Tile, Ted

Escobedo from Snappy Publishing, and

staff. We would like to thank Sam, Rudy

Guel and his work crew, and Margaret for

the last minute OMG moment late

Wednesday night before the parade. They

stayed to work out in the cold until 1 a.m.

and then came back at 6 a.m. to help dec-

orate the EZ Bake oven tow truck.

The route of the parade covers about

2.75 miles and over 300,000 people lined

Montana Avenue to witness the 75th ver-

sion of the parade in beautiful weather.

On Friday the skies opened up and

dumped cold rain for the next 24 hours.

Again Rudy’s crew, Ray and Sam dis-

mantled the tow cover on Saturday to

ensure that Western Wholesale would

have its truck running on Monday.

The float won an Honorable Mention

and for a first year try the Association was

given a lot of praises. The gingerbread

house float was so different from all the

other floats that it was clearly a favorite of

the TV audience as well as the kids at the

parade. No final decision has been made

about entering next year’s parade.

Thank you!

The El Paso Association

of Builders would like

to thank the following

sponsors, donors and

volunteers who helped

make “Building

Dreams Under the Sun”

Tropicana Homes

Cisco Homes

Mountain VistaBuilders

Western Wholesale

Supply, Inc.

BMC Select (El Paso)

DWS

Sherwin Williams

Snappy Publishing

Display Services, Inc.

Rudy Guel Const.

New Era Foam

Fernandez Const.

Blanco Tile

Foxworth Galbraith

Special Thanks to:

Sam Shallenberger

Gus Loy

Edmundo Dena

Greg Bowling

Brock Kaslow

Ray Lozano

Frank Arroyos

Rob Tollen

Ted Escobedo

Eduardo Blanco

Mike Santamaria

Margaret Adauto

Ray Adauto

Chuck Gabriel

Juan Hernandez

Installation &

Awards Banquet

Builders Outlook10ISSUE 12 2011

One out of three builders are reportinglosing signed sales contracts during thepreceding six months because appraisals ontheir homes are less than the contract salesprice, according to a recent nationwide surveyconducted by the National Association ofHome Builders (NAHB).

“The inappropriate use of distressed andforeclosed sales as comparables in determiningnew home values is needlessly driving downhome prices, killing home sales, causing moreworkers to lose their jobs and delaying ahousing and economic recovery,” said NAHBChairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder fromReno, Nev.

Too often, due to faulty appraisal practices,brand new homes with sparkling appliancesand interior upgrades get compared to adistressed property that has been sitting vacantand in disrepair. The result, in many cases hasbeen that the new house winds up gettingappraised at less than the cost of construction.

That is precisely what is occurring in today’smarketplace, according to the NAHB survey,where a full 60 percent of respondents reportedthey were experiencing appraisals coming inbelow their contract sales price.

Of those reporting that they had encounteredthis problem, 53 percent said the appraisalamount was actually less than the cost ofbuilding the home.

“This is not only unfair and unreasonable,but it perpetuates the cycle of declining homevalues, drives more home owners underwater,harms local economic activity and acts as anobstacle to the recovery of the housingmarket,” said Nielsen.

These appraisal practices are a majorcontributing factor to the current acquisition,development and construction (AD&C)lending crisis that has choked off credit forhome builders and threatens to prolong thecurrent housing downturn.

Falling appraised values for land andsubdivisions under development have ledsome financial institutions to stop lending todevelopers and builders, to demand additionalequity and even to call performing loans.

Since Sept. 2009, NAHB has held fourappraisal summits in Washington withrepresentatives of federal banking regulators,the appraisal industry, the housing financeindustry, the real estate and housing sectorsand others to find solutions that will allowappraisers to develop realistic valuations basedon sales that are truly comparable.

The need to give top priority to addressingthe complexity of property valuations indistressed markets and impediments to theflow of appropriate information on homesbetween appraisers and interested parties wasdiscussed during the most recent summit,which occurred on Oct. 19.

“Major reforms in appraisal practices andoversight are needed to ensure that appraisalsaccurately reflect true market values and don’tcontribute to price volatility or harm aspiringhome owners and move-up buyers,” saidNielsen. “We will continue to work with allstakeholders in this debate to find solutions.”

With the decline in home prices appearing tohave ended or be coming to an end in mostparts of the country, resolving the appraisal andcredit crunch issues remain a top priority forthe association.

NAHB’s latest Improving Markets Indexhas shown modest signs of improvement inscattered housing markets where employmentis gaining and distressed properties are not asnumerous.

New-home construction stands ready toserve as an engine for economic recovery.Building 100 single-family homes createsmore than 300 full-time jobs and provides $8.9million in federal, state and local tax revenues.

Resolving inappropriate appraisal practicesand restoring the flow of credit to homebuilders will not only help to put America backto work, it will provide badly needed taxrevenues that is essential for local governmentsto support schools, police and firefighters incommunities across the land,” said Nielsen.

Flawed Appraisals

Killing Home

Sales, Hampering

Housing Recovery

www.swher.com

5400 Suncrest Dr. C-6 El Paso, Tx. 79912

Ph. (915) 613-4168

Fx. (915-833-6437

SENERCONSouthwest Energy Conservation, LLC

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7365 Remcon Circle El Paso, TX 79912

Builders Outlook issue 12 2011 11

Builders Outlook12issue 12 2011

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JANUARY 11

BOARD MEETING

12 NOON

EPAB

JANUARY 20-22

HOME SHOW

El Paso Convention Center

FEBRUARY 8 -11

INTERNATIONAL BUILDERS’

SHOW

ORLANDO, FL

FEBRUARY 8-11

NAHB WINTER BOARD MEETINGS

ORLANDO, FL

Builders Outlook 13ISSUE 12 2011

UPCoMInG EVEnTS

Membership news

www.elpasobuilders.com

SoDA SPonSoR

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E L PA S o

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Industry Reports

Showroom: 2131 Missouri

915 • 533 • 6045 fax • 533• 6096

Thomas R. Brown, Owner

REALTOR/Builder�

Local�Real�Estate�Update�

With the closing 2011 coming around,

we have reached 94% of last year’s total

sales with 1,876 closed New Home

listings. We are improving with each

month and our sales are proof of that

persistence.

For the 2011, the Average New Home

Sale is a 3 bedroom home with 1741

square feet that sold for $154,926 at

$91.17 per square foot. This style home

was on the market for an average of 99

days.

In comparison, for 2010, the Average

New Home Sale was a 3 bedroom home

with 1704 square feet that sold for

$157,264 at $91.68 per square foot. This

style home was on the market for an

average of 133 days.

This year New Homes contributed 39%

of the total residential sales of El Paso

County; while resale properties have

contributed 61% of the total residential

sales of El Paso County. This is a +3%

change from 2010 New Home Sales.

All of this data came from the Greater

El Paso Association of REALTORS®

Multiple Listing Service, as of December

5, 2011. Only new homes listed in the

GEPAR MLS are included.

I want to thank all of our builders who

participated in our El Paso Builder

University. It was a new and different

idea and you all helped make it a

wonderful success. I have had many

compliments and conversations from El

Paso REALTORS who really appreciate

the time you give to educate them about

different aspects of building a home and

learning more about your communities

and the features of your building style.

This year we learned about the Permitting

Process, New Home Inspections, Roofs

and Trusses, PEX Piping, Energy Star

Building, Green Building, New City

Code Changes and more. The expertise

and knowledge that you shared made our

REALTOR community helped us better

to serve our clients. Thank you for taking

the time and participation. Cynthia

Morris, our 2012 REALTOR/Builder

Committee Chair, is looking forward to

continuing the El Paso Builder

University.

Also, we are pleased 1st Annual

Holiday Lights Contest has started off to

a great success. We have 6 model homes

competing for the illustrious “1st Annual

Holiday Lights Trophy.” The builders

who entered are: Tropicana Homes, Zia

Homes, Cisco Homes and Saratoga

Homes. Right now REALTORS are

voting for the best display. The winner of

the contest will be announced at the El

Paso Association of Builders Installation

Dinner.

Also, I want to thank you for the

opportunity to serve as your

REALTOR/Builder Committee Chair this

year. I had a wonderful time and learned

a lot from your board about the inner

workings of building new homes. I look

forward to doing future business with

you.

Angela�Ochoa

GEPAR

Associates�Council

It has been a whirlwind of a year for the

Associates Council. We have held some

really good events and special educational

trainings this year and had fun doing it. I

have to admit that while business could be

better for nearly everyone the clear thing I

see is that we just don’t give up. The

Associates in this Federation are the

backbone of the Association and I hope you

feel like I’ve done a good job representing

you in 2011. I have been asked to stay on

for 2012 but I can tell you this for sure, I

can’t do this alone. It takes a real team

effort to put together the meetings and the

events, and frankly without your

participation none of it could get done, at

least not as good as it has been in 2011.

We held very successful golf

tournaments, the Young Designer

Tournament in which our associate John

Chaney gets every one excited and moves

the game right along. Then John comes

along with the Adams Pro Tour Pro-Am

and we have another exciting golf game

gone right. Thanks to John, Mark Gonzalez

and Anthony Below for all the help. I know

that at times it was just a couple of us

working on this deal but we got it done and

had a great time with it. I still think El Paso

has to have an event like this and no one

can do it like the EPAB can.

Education was available to those who

wanted or needed it, and it continues in

December as Associate member JDW

Insurance will host a seminar for builders.

Education never sleeps, especially when

you have associates willing to share their

knowledge and skills.

Finally I want to say thank you to all the

Associate members who contributed to the

Sun Bowl Parade Float. It was pretty

awesome, and since I got to drive the float

down Montana street I can tell you that it

was interesting, challenging and at times a

little stressful. Amazing how people just

want to cross in front of a float and not

realizing they are not visible to the driver.

My Copilot Ray was just super tired after

working his butt off on the thing. I’d like to

also say thanks to Margaret, Rudy Guel and

his guys, and to Ted and Eduardo. Also all

the help from Tropicana, Cisco, and

Accent. By the way, Rudy Guel has earned

some additional respect from me. He and

his guys hung in there on Wednesday night

before the parade and constructed the cover

for the truck. Rudy and his guys, Margaret

and Ray and I stayed until about 1 am

getting it done, then back again early to

finish before making the appearance in the

parade. It was awesome.

Finally congratulations to Greg Bowling

for doing such a good job as President. I

look forward to working with Frank and the

executive team for 2012. Get ready, cause

we’re going to be busy.

Sam�Shallenberger

Western�Wholesale

Supply

El Paso Disposal

772-7495Jaime’s

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Jan. 20-22, 2012

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BuildersOutlook12.11

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