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CEO Blog
Matt Morrow serves as Chief Executive Officer for the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, Missouri - a post he has held since 2001. He supervises a staff of five HBA employees, serving approximately 400 member companies. He serves as a frequent spokesperson in the media and in public appearances on behalf of the local housing and construction industries.
In the HBA's "CEO Blog," Matt voices the HBA perspective on key issues facing the construction and housing industries.
CEO Blog: Build With Christmas Inspiration
It was my eleventh opportunity to be blessed by spending an evening with HBA members and friends at the association’s annual Christmas party and banquet. Each year is special in its own way, and I’m always so touched by the bonds and friendships that form, and by our chance annually to share in each other’s holiday celebration. This year, mixed …
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CEO Blog: The Huge “Win” You May Never Notice
We all have our guilty pleasures, and one of mine is disaster movies. Armageddon. Deep Impact. 2012. Independence Day (okay, one of my other guilty pleasures is movies about invading space monkeys). A recurring theme in disaster movies is the “narrowly-averted-catastrophe-that-no-one-saw-coming.” By the heroic, just-in-time actions of a few brave (and usually stunningly attractive) Hollywood leads, life is allowed – …
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CEO Blog: News-Leader Sings Praises of Our Housing Strategic Plan
For more than a year now, dozens upon dozens of Springfield city residents and stakeholders have given thousands of hours of their time to the process of strategic planning for the future of the city. The efforts are now beginning to emerge in the form of proposals for policies, practices, and priorities moving forward. Some of these ideas are good. …
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CEO Blog: Real-time Messages from the Ground in Joplin
Since I came to work for the HBA of Greater Springfield more than ten years ago, it has been my pleasure to work closely with other Executive Officers from other Home Builders Associations from across the country. The one in closest proximity to me has been a close friend for years – Crystal Harrington, Executive Officer of the Home Builders …
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Home Building in the Ozarks is Turning the Corner!
A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the National Association of Home Builders’ annual International Builders Show in Orlando. Like the industry it represents, the Builders Show is not nearly as big as it used to be. But it still ranks as one of the largest trade shows in the world and it is an annual …
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CEO Blog: ‘Univerally-Mandated’ Universal Design?
Recently I was invited to the state capitol by area legislators to testify before a house committee in Jefferson City about a proposal (House Bill 1737) that would require all new state-supported affordable housing in Missouri to meet Universal Design standards. The legislation is being advanced by well-intentioned advocates for people with disabilities to help meet the special accomodations that …
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CEO Blog: Live from Las Vegas
It is Sunday evening and I’m in my deeply-discounted Las Vegas hotel room (Imperial Palace, if you must know) working to recap the highlights of my first day at the 2010 National Association of Home Bulders’ International Builders Show (IBS). If you never have been to an International Builders Show, you certainly should at some point give it a try. …
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May I Tweet You from IBS?
If you haven’t yet caught onto the Twitter bandwagon (or if you have but have yet to discover the new world of membership value provided through the HBA’s social media connections), a grand opportunity is just around the corner. The National Association of Home Builders annual International Builders Show International Builders’ Show® (IBS) officially opens January 19, but pre-show education begins …
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CEO Blog: Welcome to the NEW HBA Housing News Weekly E-Newsletter!
In September of 1908, Henry Ford released the first production Model-T automobile. Previous to the release of this car, horse-drawn carriage was the preferred mode of transportation. From 1908 into the late 1920’s, carriage and buggy companies worked furiously to improve their product in order to compete with the expanding automobile industry. Luxury seating and amenities were added, aerodynamics were …
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CEO Blog: HBA Wins Six National Awards
You know it has been a full week when you sit down to blog and can’t remember what day it is. Tonight, on my flight home, I’m sorting through what has been a whirlwind week at the National Association of Home Builders’ annual Executive Officers Council Seminar. At the annual event (held this year in Louisville, KY), HBA Executive Officers …
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