HBA Presidents’ Retreat Empowers Local Leaders

The presidents of Florida’s local home builders associations (HBAs) recently participated in the state’s first-ever presidents retreat, hosted by the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) at the Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green, Fla. The event was designed to help educate, empower and inspire local presidents during their tenure in 2022.

Nearly two-thirds of the local presidents in Florida attended the day-and-a-half retreat. The event was filled with educational sessions tailored specifically to address the needs of local presidents. Session topics ranged from how to make a good impression in the first 100 days to how to develop your leadership ladder. The sessions were developed by the in-house staff experts at FHBA. NAHB’s Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary Jim Rizzo led sessions on parliamentary procedure and risk management during the retreat.

The keynote presentation was led by author Ginger Johnson, who spoke about the power of connecting with people and how that can be translated into membership retention and building connections with members. The retreat also provided a venue for local HBAs and FHBA to strengthen their connections with each other. At the end of the first day of the retreat, FHBA provided dinner and set up games for the attendees to engage in a little friendly competition.

“If we didn’t have this retreat, we would not have had the opportunity to get to know our presidents better,” says Kimberly Scott, CFO/COO of FHBA. “And we would not have had the opportunity to demonstrate the value of FHBA and NAHB and our expertise in association management. We can be a huge resource for our local leadership.”

The attendees were provided all the session presentations and handouts to reference after the conference. The feedback on the retreat has been very positive. Attendees said they found the information useful and the discussions highly engaging.

“It was absolutely worth every dime we spent on the retreat,” says Scott.

The conversations and connections didn’t end after the retreat in December 2021. FHBA continues to provide professional development opportunities on topics not covered during the retreat. Moving forward, FHBA plans to host a retreat for all incoming presidents at the end of each year.