Podcast: Pro-Housing County Exec Discusses Home Building Growth
This post has been updated.
On the latest episode of NAHB’s podcast, Housing Developments, CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez welcome Josh Schoemann, county executive for Washington County, Wis., to discuss his Next Generation Housing Initiative to help builders build entry-level homes and increase housing opportunity.
The new housing program stemmed from Washington County’s struggle to retain its younger residents once they went away to college or for other opportunities. In researching the factors that contributed to them leaving, housing was a major component.
“If they can’t afford to live there, they’re not coming back,” Schoemann stated.
The program involved creating a coalition of government entities and housing professionals to help deregulate housing in the county, and securing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) financing to leverage down development costs and cover permit fees for entry-level homes.
“I call it a prosperity cycle — prosperous families create prosperous businesses, which create prosperous communities,” Schoemann shared. “We’ve done this before. We just have to think differently than we have for the past 30 years.”
Challenges have included NIMBY-ism, holding the coalition together, and keeping the plan moving forward, especially in the wake of municipalities than have been reluctant to remove regulations.
Tobin and Lopez also discuss the cabinet picks for the Trump administration, including Scott Turner to helm the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the opportunities for NAHB to collaborate.
The episode concludes with the latest Builders' Show Insider segment. Denise Miller, VP of Marketing and Brand Management, and Jamahl Gibbons, manager of IBS Show Homes, delve into the details surrounding The New American Home, including standout features in the 2025 show home.
Listen to the full episode of the podcast below, and subscribe to Housing Development through your favorite podcast provider or watch all the episodes on YouTube.
Latest from NAHBNow
Business Management
May 26, 2026
NAHB Publication Offers Remodelers Sneak Peek into Industry FinancialsBuilderBooks, the publishing arm of NAHB, released a new edition of its Remodelers’ Cost of Doing Business Study, 2026 Edition, a national study of remodelers’ business practices and financial performance.
Economics
May 22, 2026
Which Home Owners Are Fueling Today’s Remodeling Market?With elevated mortgage rates and limited for-sale inventory making it harder to move, many home owners are instead choosing to invest in the homes they already own. In 2024, an estimated $670 billion was spent on remodeling projects.
Latest Economic News
Economics
May 26, 2026
First Quarter 2026 Multifamily Construction DataAccording to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased year-over-year during the first quarter of 2026. For the quarter, 107,000 multifamily residences started construction.
Economics
May 25, 2026
Custom Home Building – A Bright Spot for ConstructionWith overall single-family construction down 5% for the first four months of 2026, custom home building has been a relative bright spot. The custom building market is less sensitive to the interest rate cycle than other forms of home building but is more sensitive to changes in household wealth and stock prices.
Economics
May 25, 2026
Single-Family Built-to-Rent Slowed at Start of 2026Single-family built-for-rent (or built-to-rent, BTR) construction fell back in the first quarter of 2026, as a higher cost of financing, increased multifamily supply and policy concerns over Congressional legislation related to institutional capital froze parts of the development market.