Construction Jobs Blog

Recent news coverage of home builders has been generally negative.  Reorganization, downsizing, and bankruptcies make headlines, and the debate over a possible recession wages on.  It is easy to see why most people think housing is a mess, and in many areas the market is challenging, to say the least.  But during market corrections it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.  The fact of the matter is that in the coming years, the U.S. home building market will provide rich opportunities for growth and expansion to companies on the upside of this downturn.

In talking to recently-named President of U.S. Operations for Mattamy Homes, Steve Parker, I found a breath of fresh air from the gloom and doom of mainstream news.  And I believe that what he said is important because it accurately represents the position of a large number of smaller home builders across the nation, who reporters have passed over in decrying this historic correction.

Some smaller home builders like Mattamy are finding themselves better suited to survive the slowdown than a number of the larger, public builders.  To begin with, many do not have as many land assets on their books.  “A lot of the national builders in the U.S. are basically bigger than Mattamy and have a lot more land assets,” explains Parker, “Because we’re small, we have the advantage of not having so many assets invested in the U.S., and we’re not struggling as much looking at our asset portfolio.”  They are now in a position to take advantage of land deals during the next two years.  Also, many smaller builders are private, which can take some pressure off of the management to cut overhead or reorganize.  In fact, many smaller companies are aggressively competing for top industry talent that has become available due to market circumstances.

I asked Laura Bailey, another home building veteran now working at Mattamy, why she chose to join the small builder.  “The opportunity for growth!” she said, “Many large builders are downsizing, but Mattamy is taking a different approach.  We’re looking to grow the business, both organically and through opportunities for acquisitions.”  Before they can get to work on growing the business, both Steve Parker and Laura Bailey remarked that their first responsibility at Mattamy is to “put the proper talent in place.”  They are pursuing an aggressive growth strategy, and without the right people, “you just can’t execute.”  In fact, Parker insisted that “the need of the right people” is the “most important consideration in Mattamy’s success.”

Appropriately, Parker’s history in the industry is a blueprint of Mattamy’s plans for the future.  In 1996, he joined Morrison Homes when it was roughly the same size as Mattamy’s U.S. division is today.  At Morrison, he was part of a management team that grew that business from less than 1,000 units to more than 5,000 units in five or six years.  While in charge of Morrison’s Florida division, he grew it to 48% of Morrison’s business in the U.S. “I feed off the passion for growing a business,” he proclaims.  Bailey insists that “Mattamy going after a heavy hitter like Steve speaks volumes about the company and the future growth opportunities they are looking to obtain.”

Besides focusing on recruiting top talent, Parker is leveraging Mattamy’s reputation for customer satisfaction in his efforts to grow the business.  He describes company founder and C.E.O. Peter E. Gilgan as “dedicated to growing in the U.S.,” and “absolutely committed to customer service.”  When Gilgan founded the company 30 years ago, satisfied customers were the cornerstone of his philosophy, and not much has changed in that regard over the past three decades.  In 2007, Mattamy Homes was ranked #1 in Customer Satisfaction with New Home Builders in the Greater Charlotte Area by J.D. Power and Associates. Mattamy has also been honored internationally, and was named 2007 “Home Builder of the Year” by GTHBA-UDI (the Greater Toronto Area Home Building Industry and Land Development Association), recognizing construction quality and after-sales service, as well as the entire new home buying experience.

For Mattamy Homes, and many other home builders like them, the future does indeed look bright.  If they play their cards right during 2008 and 2009, they have the chance to emerge as leaders in the home building industry during the next decade.  When one takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture, it helps put the cloudy forecast of the coming year into perspective.