Honoring Excellence: 7 Builders Recognized at 2018 Executive Summit

Any builder would like to able to say they have an exceptionally well-run company. Very few, however, can support that statement with hard numbers. 

Each year, Shinn Builder Partnerships presents the Lee Evans Award for Management Excellence to one builder who displays exceptionally sound management principles. The award was created by Lee S. Evans to recognize builders who have made significant progress in improving their processes to streamline their organizations and achieve superior profits, while delivering a high-quality product to the customer. 

To be considered for the award, builders must demonstrate management excellence across all departments. Their performance is analyzed by a panel of industry experts, who review each applicant’s finances, strategy, human resources, production, warranty, sales and marketing, customer service, technology, insurance and litigation, and association and community activities. 

The winner of the 2018 Lee Evans Award for Management Excellence is Woodstock, Georgia-based active adult builder Windsong Properties. Founded by long-time builders Mark Carruth and Steve Romeyn, Windsong builds exclusively in the Atlanta market. The builder has received eight Guildmaster Awards for superior customer service, six gold and two silver OBIEs Best in Building Design, and a gold OBIE 50+ Community of the Year from the Greater Atlanta Homebuilder’s Association.

“The Lee Evans Award judges scrutinize performance in every area of operations,” said Charles C. Shinn Jr., Ph.D., founder and president of Shinn Builder Partnerships. “Windsong Properties has shown that it has a relentless drive for continual improvement throughout its business. That has paid off in increased sales volume and revenue, exceptional employee retention, and reduced operating expenses. We are extremely impressed by what this company has accomplished in a relatively short amount of time.” 

Windsong Properties was presented with the Lee Evans Award at the 2018 Shinn Builder Partnerships Executive Summit in Breckenridge, Colorado.  

Outstanding achievement

Three other awards also were presented: Builder of Choice, Employer of Choice, and the Builder Partnerships Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction. Builders do not compete against each other for these awards and there is no ranking. Either a builder meets the high criteria to be honored or they don’t. 

The Builder of Choice Award recognizes a builder’s commitment to creating and maintaining an environment that allows trades and suppliers to accomplish their work efficiently and effectively. To be named a Builder of Choice, a builder must have an average score on trade contractor feedback surveys of at least 93 percent across 68 criteria. 

To achieve the Employer of Choice Award, builders are rated by employees on: mission, vision, business plan, company culture, organization, trust, communication, work environment, opportunities for growth, and work/ life balance. Applicants must receive an average score on employee feedback surveys of at least 90 percent across 69 criteria.   

The Builder Partnerships Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction recognizes builders that have high standards, company culture, and processes in place to deliver what is most important to home buyers—quality construction and a great buying experience. 

This year's honorees

The 2018 Builder of Choice honorees are:
American Heritage Homes, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Atlantic Builders, Fredericksburg, Virginia
HHHunt Homes – Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
Hunter Quinn Homes, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
Ivey Residential, Evans, Georgia
SR Homes, Lawrenceville, Georgia
Windsong Properties, Woodstock, Georgia

The 2018 Employer of Choice honorees are Atlantic Builders and Hunter Quinn Homes.  

The 2018 Builder Partnerships Achievement Award for Customer Satisfaction was presented to Atlantic Builders.

“We congratulate all of this year’s honorees,” Shinn said. “This is a recognition that is only earned by a select few builders in the nation. Their customers, employees, trade partners, and suppliers can all be assured that they are working with builders that are committed to high performance, fairness, and outstanding quality.”