January 31, 2013 - Rick Judson, a Charlotte, N.C.-based home builder with more than 35 years of experience in the building industry, was elected as the 2013 chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) during the association’s International Builders’ Show last week in Las Vegas.
Judson is the owner of Evergreen Development Group in Charlotte, and is a successful builder and developer with several decades of experience in land development and construction of single-family, multifamily and commercial projects.
“Our focus this year is to ensure that the housing recovery stays on track and that housing continues to contribute to job and economic growth,” said Judson. “As the debate on tax reform heats up, we will be urging lawmakers to protect the mortgage interest deduction and other important housing tax provisions. In addition, we will be calling on policymakers to resolve a flawed appraisal process that is distorting home values, to restore the flow of credit to home buyers and home builders, and to ensure the federal government plays a constructive role in backing up the U.S. housing finance system.”
Judson has been active in the NAHB leadership structure at the local, state and national levels throughout his career. He has served on NAHB’s Board of Directors since 1979 and has been a member of the NAHB Executive Board since 2002. He has twice served as NAHB State Representative from North Carolina and is a two-time NAHB national area chairman representing North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. He has chaired some of NAHB’s most important and influential committees, subcommittees and task forces, including Budget and Finance, Investment and Public Affairs. In 2008, he chaired the NAHB Housing Finance Task Force, which developed association policy relating to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Judson served as 2004 president of the North Carolina Home Builders Association and was named its associate of the year in 1988. During his business career, he has founded and successfully operated several businesses, including entities that have developed land for and built numerous single-family, multifamily and commercial projects.
Judson began his career in the building industry by purchasing his family’s insulating contracting business, and, by acquiring similar firms across the country, he steadily built a company that at the time of its sale was one of the nation’s largest and most successful insulating contracting operations. During that period, he served as president of the Insulation Contractors of America. After that, Judson turned his full attention to building and real estate development. In the early 1980s, he established a building company that specialized in custom homes and eventually evolved into building entry level homes. He later expanded the scope of that business to include a larger selection of price ranges, and built both multifamily and commercial projects as well.
Actively involved in his community and numerous philanthropic endeavors, Judson in 1985 was awarded the state’s highest civilian honor, the “Order of the Long Leaf Pine,” by North Carolina Governor Jim Martin. He served as president of the Charlotte Sertoma Club and was honored with the “Sertoman of the Year” award in 1977. He has also been involved with Habitat for Humanity and has held top leadership positions on the board of directors of the Builders Mutual Insurance Company.
Judson attended East Carolina University on a football and track scholarship and was inducted into the school’s “Wall of Fame” for noteworthy contributions to the community and university by a letterman. He graduated with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in Business and History in 1970. Judson also performed post-graduate studies at the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania and at the School of Industrial Management at Clemson University.
His wife, Cathy, is a successful small business owner, technology consultant and active member of the Raleigh-Wake and Charlotte Home Builders Associations. They have four grown children and three grandchildren.
