A Passion for BIA

Ryan Combe, Director of Forward Planning for Lennar Homes’s Inland Empire Division and president of the San Bernardino County Chapter of BIA, is a powerful advocate for active involvement in BIA. Southern California Builder spoke with him about where his passion comes from.

Southern California Builder: Can you tell us how BIA membership tracked with your advancement in the homebuilding industry?

Ryan Combe: I graduated in 1997 from the University of California Riverside’s Anderson School of Management with an MBA, but I had no real work experience. I found an opportunity with Forecast Homes. It was my boot camp where they taught me about every aspect of the homebuilding industry, which also meant going to a lot of BIA meetings. A few years later, a great new career opportunity came up at Lennar Homes, I got even more involved in the Baldy View Chapter, which is now the San Bernardino County Chapter. I joined the membership and program committee initially about 10 years ago, and started to get much more involved with the chapter.

Carlos Rodriguez soon asked me if I would like to be a board member, as Lennar was surprisingly not represented on the board at that time. Carlos guided me into further leadership as I became Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Government Affairs, Vice President of Programs, and now I’m President of the Chapter. I put in a lot of time and effort and got a lot of inspiration from the awesome members of this Chapter and the larger BIA.

SCB: With all those committees, which did you enjoy the most and would recommend to others?

RC: It depends on the stage of your career. Early on for me, it was Programs. Programs are where you hang out and network, which is what many of our trade partners want to do, so being able to plan those events was fun, and seeing them come together was great. That’s how you become a board member –get involved in a committee. Membership and Programs go hand in hand, and are a great place to start, but in our San Bernardino County Chapter, there are so many other committees now that can appeal to everyone. Philanthropy, Workforce Education, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Emerging Leaders and Government Affairs to name a few.

SCB: Did you get mentors from BIA that helped you with your career?

RC: Absolutely! Being around leaders like Jonathan Weldy, Phil Burum, Tim Roberts and Jim Perry is a blessing, and even in less frequent interactions, legends of the industry like Randall Lewis, Harry Crowell, and Jim Smirl have set great examples of leadership over the years. A lot of those big names with a lot of influence in our Chapter have not only given me solid advice on my career but also on the leadership of this Chapter. My passion for BIA was inspired by them, and especially by my fellow board members and all of the members that I see at events.

SCB: You mentioned your passion. Why are you so passionate about BIA?

RC: Everything we do in this industry stems from advocacy, relationships and networking, and BIA is the center for that. BIA is a network of people who help one another, being a great way to build relationships with trades, suppliers, consultants, and elected officials. I gain so much value out of it, with my career and with the success of Lennar, that involvement is such a nobrainer. I can’t imagine companies not giving their all and encouraging their leadership to be involved in an organization that has the industry at heart and helps to build these relationships.

I’m also very passionate about supporting other BIA members’ businesses. I often get random LinkedIn sales messages from someone I don’t know. My first question is, “Are you a BIA member?” If they will ask what BIA is, I’ll say, “Here’s a link. Get back to me after you’ve joined.” I want to say to them, “You’re in sales, you’re reaching out to builders and you don’t even know what BIA is? Come on! Do your homework!” I’m not going to let someone do an end-around. It’s like sneaking in the back door to a night club when everyone I care about is out front standing in line. If you’re not going to be a part of an organization that we put our time and effort into for the benefit of the entire industry, then I’m not going to do business with you.

Conversely, if I meet someone at a BIA event and then see they are interested in submitting a bid, I say, “Let’s reach out to this company and make sure they get included in our bid process.” I hear the same from other builders –many of them feel the same way and essentially require it, checking to see that everyone that they’re doing business with is a BIA member. I want to encourage that loyalty, and our fellow members deserve it.

SCB: What tips do you have for new members about getting started in BIA?

RC: As President of the San Bernardino County Chapter, I want to push to welcome new people. These events can be intimidating for a first-timer, so I’m making sure there are people prepared to meet you and welcome you, maybe over a beer or a glass of wine at a social event, at a conference or a golf tournament – our goal is to welcome you. And my advice to the new member is to get involved by joining and working on some of the committees. You’ll grow and build good relationships by being more active. I know it can seem hard to manage your day job with involvement on a committee. Something to consider is delegating those roles to emerging leaders within your company and reaching out to a committee leader to see if there is an opportunity to help.

Even those lucky enough to have a great network and lots of business are still benefitting from BIA, and should support it. The advocacy efforts of BIA help builders, which correlates to them being able to keep building, which correlates obviously to us being able to give work to our trade partners, consultants, suppliers, lenders, and so on. Also, you hear of people thinking they’ll let their membership expire and that they’ll re-join when the economy picks up. I get it, costs are up and margins are down. However, I truly believe that this is the worst possible time for you to put the BIA aside, because it’s when we all rely on its advocacy the most.

SCB: After all your involvement, what’s your favorite BIA memory?

RC: My installation dinner this year was probably one of the greatest nights of my life. It gave me a chance to speak about something that I’m passionate about to a room of 200-plus people who I hoped to inspire. I know most of those people pretty darn well, and just seeing them there to support the BIA, and me personally was so humbling. It was very validating to see how tight those people are with one another, enjoying each other’s company, and it’s all because of BIA. Being able to speak to all of them, seeing all of them, with my family there, was a great moment for me. Looking down at my parents, my wife and my kids as I spoke and to get a chance to show my gratitude for their support was very emotional for me.

Besides that great night, another great BIA memory was helping to create an event and seeing it come to fruition. Coordinating the “Crafted” beer event, helping to choose the venue, and seeing it still going strong after seven years – that’s a highlight, too. And I also love the events at the Nixon Library, to meet political pundits like Karl Rove and other political leaders makes for a great event. I love getting that insight.

SCB: What are your goals as president of the San Bernardino County Chapter?

RC: Obviously, my first objective is to continue to advocate for the industry, followed closely by growing membership – those are my two passions. My new focus is on emerging leaders. I want to grow the farm system, to encourage the people who are new to this industry, to promote them and grow their skills and commitment to the industry. Workforce education and growing our labor base goes along with that, and we’re very excited about our new Junior Builders program and our Builder Camp for 5th to 8th grade students, informing and educating them so they will move up to BITA when they’re in high school.

The San Bernardino County Chapter will have a big focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as will BIASC as a whole. We all can recognize that this is not a particularly diverse industry, yet we are selling to a very diverse market. How can we grow our business if we are not relating to our clientele? How can we hire the best and brightest if we’re not attracting them to the industry? It’s so important that I have appointed a Chapter Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the first time ever. And finally, philanthropy is important to me. Our builder community does a lot for the greater San Bernardino community. For example, Lennar Homes is now building a home in Fontana for a veteran hero and we and our industry partners are very excited to be a part of giving thanks to our veterans, who so richly deserve it.