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Tidewater Builders Association
 Pressroom  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 08, 2011
Contact: Mary Prier
Sara Steil
(757) 305-9064
 
Home Builders Association installs 2012 officers, directors

S.L. "Sam" Cohen

Steven E. "Steve" Lawson

Scott Gandy

Dennis M. Graf

Eric J. Sasser

Samuel L. "Sam" Cohen was installed as the 2012 president of Tidewater Builders Association, a not-for-profit home builders association with 700-plus member firms in South Hampton Roads, at TBA on Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Cohen is the owner of Joey Corp., a custom homebuilding business in Chesapeake. He has been a member of TBA since 1990 and first joined the TBA board in 1999 as an elected builder director. He has since served in various leadership positions, including TBA executive committee appointee in 2007 and 2008, treasurer in 2009 and vice president in 2010 and 2011.

Cohen has built in the TBA Homearama showcase of homes since 1997, served as chair of the Homearama Committee in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2011, and built the 2000 Charity House. He also helped build the 2005 TBA Scholarship House to benefit the TBA Scholarship Foundation.

He will serve on the boards of directors of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Home Builders Association of Virginia (HBAV).

Other 2012 officers installed were:

Steven E. "Steve" Lawson, president of The Lawson Cos., a developer of single- and multifamily housing communities in Virginia Beach, is serving as TBA vice president. Lawson joined TBA in 1993 and was named to the TBA board of directors in 2007. He has served as a member of NAHB's Housing Finance Committee and Mortgage Roundtable. He has also served as chairman of the NAHB Housing Credit Group, the NAHB Multifamily Finance Subcommittee and the NAHB Affordable Housing Subcommittee. The Virginia Beach resident earned a bachelor of science degree in engineering and an MBA from Duke University.

Scott M. Gandy, principal of Kempsville Building Materials, is serving as associate vice president. Gandy has been a member of TBA since 1974. He will be serving a seventh consecutive term as co-chair of the Building Trades Academy Committee. Gandy first served as an associate director in 1997. He was TBA’s associate vice president in 1998, 1999 and 2011.

Gandy also has served as co-chair of the Membership Committee and as chair of the Mid-Atlantic Home & Garden Show Committee.

Dennis M. Graf, president of Graf Construction, is serving as treasurer. Graf has been a member of the TBA board since 2002. He built in the 1999, 2000 and 2002 Homearamas and also built the 2001 Homearama Charity House. Graf also served five consecutive terms as co-chair of the Charity Golf Tournament Committee and has served as chair since 2009. The Chesapeake resident earned his mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech.

Eric J. Sasser, managing member of Sasser Construction LC, a Portsmouth-based custom homebuilder, is serving as secretary. Sasser was first appointed to the board in 2010. He has served as Spring 2010 Homearama Committee chair. He built the Charity House to benefit The Boys & Girls Club in 2010, and has since built two additional houses in the 2011 Fall Homearama.

Returning to the TBA Board are elected builder directors: Richard L. "Tuck" Bowie, president and CEO of Terry/Peterson Residential; Scott L. Crumley, president of Crumley Group; Lucky C. Peterson, senior vice president of operations of Terry/Peterson Residential; and I. Reese Smith Jr.; vice president of Reese Smith Associates. Peterson

and Smith will also serve on the Executive Committee as appointees. Lana L. O'Meara, president of Designs of Distinction, is new to the board. These builders will be joining Christopher J. Ettel, partner of VB Homes; Douglas C. Smith, vice president of construction and sales at Hearndon Construction; and Erin Widener Speckhart, president and CEO of The Widener Corp.

Returning elected associate directors include: Kelly M. Beck, manager of indirect sales for Cox Communications; Thomas W. Dye, branch manager of Ferguson Enterprises; Michael P. Healy, president and COO of Superior Equipment Sales; and Brenda K. Reid, managing broker and director of the New Homes Division of William E. Wood and Associates. Don S. Parnell, vice president of BB&T;, is new to the board. These members will be joining J. Gregory Dodd, president and CEO of Horton & Dodd PC; Joseph W. Kesterson; senior vice president of TowneBank; and Edward O. "Ted" Yoder, director of business development of Monarch Mortgage.

Serving as NAHB Directors are: Jeffrey W. Ainslie, president and CEO of Ainslie Group; Sam Cohen; William "Toby"; Harris Sr., manager of New American Mortgage; and John W. "Chip"; Iuliano III, president and CEO of ABT Custom Homes.

Serving as NAHB Alternate Directors are: Larry R. Hill, president and CEO of L.R. Hill Custom Builders; Basil O. Kotarides, vice president of Kotarides Builders; Joseph N. Pushak; Mid-Atlantic sales and marketing director of Bonded Builders Warranty Group, who is new to the TBA board; and Gary L. Werner, president of Franciscus Homes.

Serving as HBAV Builder Directors are: John W. Ainslie Jr., Sam Cohen, John C. Napolitano, senior vice president of Napolitano Homes; and Richard E. Olivieri, president and CEO of Pembroke Enterprises.

Paulette M. Frantz, customer trade specialist with Dominion Virginia Power, will serve as HBAV Associate Director and TBA Immediate Past President William H. "Bill"; Halprin of S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. will serve as HBAV regional vice president.

Katharine B. Scott, executive vice president of Signature Management Corp., will be serving as chair of the Tidewater Multifamily Housing Council and Jerome E. "Jerry"; Pattenaude, president of Leo F. Johns Contractor Inc., will be serving as chair of the Remodelers Council. Stephen B. Quick IV is returning as Homearama Committee chair.

Also installed were Michael D. Newsome, Clark Whitehill Enterprises Inc., who will serve a ninth term as TBA Scholarship Foundation chair, and C. Grigsby Scifres, Williams Mullen, who will serve as TBA general counsel for the 12th year.

Member of the Year awarded

Edward O. "Ted"; Yoder, director of business development of Monarch Mortgage, was also awarded the 2011 Member of the Year award during the reception.

Yoder, who has been an active member of the board since 2000, has consistently gone above and beyond to support TBA’s mission and its members. From helping with securing funding for Homearama builders to being a key player in recruitment efforts, Yoder epitomizes what being "Member of the Year"; is about.

Yoder, who has held an elected associate director position since joining the board in 2000, has previously served as associate vice president; chair of the Stanley Awards Gala and Mid-Atlantic Home & Garden Show committees, and vice chair of the Membership/Retention Blue Ribbon Committee to name a few. He has been a recruiter for the Cornerstone Foundation since 2000, and will be serving his third term as vice chair in 2012.

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