Industry Spotlight
Bridgeland Wins Awards
Bridgeland's Cypress community can call itself "best in state" not once, but seven times over after winning a slew of awards in the recent statewide Star Awards presented by the Texas Association of Builders.
The community won for Best TV Commercial, Best Billboard, Best Promotion for Discovery Weekend, Best Print Ad, Best Sales Brochure and Marketing Professional for the Year. Also, one of Bridgeland's top-selling realtors, Jimmy Franklin of Re/Max-Fry Road, won Realtor of the Year.
"To win this many awards during such a prestigious event is really amazing and truly gratifying," says Peter Houghton, Bridgeland's vice president of sales. "The competition was fierce, with well-established and well-known communities also named as finalists."
Earlier in 2008, Bridgeland was named Business of the Year by the Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce. Kriste Klepper, Bridgeland's senior marketing manager, was honored as Marketing Professional of the Year during the 2008 PRISM Awards hosted by the Greater Houston Builders Association. The Bridgeland community won five other PRISM awards this year including Community of the Year.
Texas Builder Joins with "Extreme Home Makeover"
Arlington's Steve Wall announced that the teams from Wall Homes and ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" notified the Augustin family of Keller, Texas, that they have been selected as the deserving recipients of a brand new home to be built at no cost by hundreds of volunteers in just seven days. The new Augustin home replaces an irreparably flood-damaged dwelling the family was forced to leave.
ABC's Emmy-award winning hit reality show selected the Augustins as part of its current "Heroes in the Community" season. Amber Augustin founded the nonprofit "Tiny Works of Heart" and Peter Augustin, a proud advocate for Amber's foundation, also dedicates his time to Habitat for Humanity.
On Father's Day 2007, the Augustin's home and garage that served as Amber's foundation photography studio were flooded. Amber, Peter and their three children were forced to vacate. Tarrant County and the City of Fort Worth informed the family that their home of 12 years must be raised more than one foot in order for them to live there again. Unfortunately, costs were prohibitive.
However, through the personal commitment of Wall Homes, the company's subcontractor base, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and hundreds of volunteers, the Augustin family will soon have a new house on the same lot where their current home still stands.
Marine Receives Donated Home
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and local dignitaries congratulated Lt. Erasmo Valles, a 33-year-old U.S. Marine severely wounded in Iraq, on his new Tuscan Lakes home in League City, Texas, donated through the efforts of the Bay Area Builders Association (BABA) and the Coalition to Salute America's Heroes.
Remarking on Lt. Valles' dedication to his country, Sen. Cornyn spoke briefly to the crowd of well-wishers gathered at the Tuscan Lakes home. Also on hand were Dan Wallrath, president of BABA Support Our Troops, Inc., Daniel Vargas, Coalition to Salute America's Heroes, Bob Douglas, general manager of Tuscan Lakes and Brian Binash, president of Wilshire Homes and the Greater Houston Builders Association, among others.
Keys to the home were presented to Lt. Valles and his family. Representatives from Kiva Kitchen & Bath presented the family with a washer and dryer and Kroger delivered groceries to the Valles family. Gallery Furniture will furnish the home.
The Bay Area Builders Association spearheaded the home donation effort through its Support Our Troops initiative, which began building handicap-accessible homes for wounded veterans in 2005. Wilshire Homes donated the plans and assisted in supervising construction of the $275,000 home in the Ravenna neighborhood of Tuscan Lakes, a community developed by The Johnson Development Corp.
Nominations Open for Best Place to Work
Local companies looking to be recognized among the best employers in the region are invited to participate in the second annual Greater Reno-Tahoe Best Places to Work Awards.
Employees are encouraged to nominate an employer as "Best Place to Work" if they feel their employer has created a positive work environment for them and their colleagues. The award nominations are open to any local company with 15 or more full-time employees.
Once nominated, companies will receive an email with contest rules including a link to the employee online survey registration page, which they will be asked to distribute among their employees. Quantum Market Research, a national market research firm specializing in workplace satisfaction, administers the Greater Reno-Tahoe Best Places to Work awards program and employee survey, which evaluates each company on 10 criteria including team effectiveness, trust with coworkers, individual contributions, manager effectiveness and feeling valued within the organization, among others.
Finalists and winning companies are determined solely from the highest total employee survey scores. Winners of the Greater Reno-Tahoe Best Places to Work Awards will be announced in April 2009.
