T H E E - M A G A Z I N E O F T H E H B R A O F FA I R F I E L D C O U N T Y - N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0
UPCOMING
November Webinars Membership Drive
FEATURES Member News COVID-19 Resources Latest Updates
MEMBER BENEFITS mynpp.com NAHB Benefits
Your Monthly Newsletter Building Connections is a monthly digital magazine produced and published by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Fairfield County. Inside you will find the latest association news, legislative updates, upcoming events, and featured articles about the industry.
Contact Us:
hbra@buildfairfieldcounty.com www.buildfairfieldcounty.com @hbraffc (203) 335-7008
2020 OFFICERS President Kim DiMatteo
DiMatteo Insurance
Sr. Vice-President John Hertz Hertz Construction
Vice President Rob Michaud
The Michaud Group
Secretary Steve LoParco
LoParco Associates
Treasurer Steven Roth
Elevator Service Company
Immediate Past President Anthony DeRosa DeRosa Builders
PWB Chair Stephanie Rapp
Stephanie Rapp Interiors
2020 DIRECTORS Luigi Altamura Altamura Homes
Propane Pete Battaglio Hocon Gas
Max Bender Bender Supply
Karen Bradbury
Closet & Storage Concepts
Ken DeLeo
Doherty & DeLeo
Brian Kurtz
Interstate Lumber
Peter Sciarretta
Hemingway Construction
Alex Shook
Pella Commercial
Michael Wood Wood Builders
LIFE DIRECTORS Joanne Carroll JMC Resources
Michael Palumbo ERI Building & Design
Jerry Effren The Greyrock Companies
Peter Gaboriault Bear Paw Builders
Gary Fanali City Carting
Terrence Beaty William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty
Peter Fusaro Preferred Builders
Chris Steiner Steiner, Inc.
U P COMIN G EVEN TS
Register for the latest Lunch & Learn from Tooher-Ferraris RSVP to Geoff Knapp: gknapp@toofer.com. This is a virtual lunch and learn
H A P P Y
T H A N K S G I V I N G
NOVEMBER 2020 HBRA of Fairfield County 5
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U PCOMIN G EVEN TS
WILL CONTENTO HUBER ENGINEERED WOODS
781.910.1763 william.contento@huber.com
© 2020 Huber Engineered Woods LLC. ZIP System, AdvanTech the accompanying ZIP System and AdvanTech logos and designs are trademarks of Huber Engineered Woods LLC. Huber is a trademark of J.M. Huber Corporation. HUB 82221 REV 4/20
NOVEMBER 2020 HBRA of Fairfield County 7
L ET T ER F ROM TH E EXECUTIVE OF FICER
Dear Members, I hope everyone is staying healthy. As the weather grows colder, and we may not be able to network in person, the HBRA will be keeping all our members connected through zoom networking and educational courses. We look forward to seeing everyone virtually until we are able to meet as normal again. We are still running our Membership Drive through the end of the month. Help us recruit new members and get a chance to win some awesome prizes. Our special new member rate of $395 for their first year of membership will be gone after Dec 31, so now is the time for them to join! Be sure to keep our online membership directory in mind whenever you are looking for a business: www. buildfairfieldcounty.com/directory. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can do anything for you or your business. kerry@buildfairfieldcounty.com Kind Regards, Kerry Brunn
H BRA N EWS
HBRA Builder Part of A-List Awards 2020 Traditional Architecture: Less Than 7,000 Square Feet Congratulations to Domus Constructors, LLC for being part of the award-winning team for the A-List Awards Traditional, Less than 7,00 Square feet category! The A-List Awards were celebrated virtually this year. You can see the whole night at the link below.
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M EMBER SPOTLIGH T
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NEW MEMBERS
Joseph Cote & Company, LLC Joe Cote
30 Years’ Factory-Trained Experience Joseph Cote and Co. began in 1992 as a Maytag Home Appliance Center in Danbury, Connecticut. Since then, it has grown to service all brands, including Sub-Zero, Wolf, XX. In 1998, the demand for appliance repair became so high that we decided to concentrate our efforts on servicing and discontinued appliance sales.
Read More
Benjamin Moore Allyson Smith
When it comes to premium paints and stains for your home, we have set the standard for excellence. We manufacture our own resins and proprietary Gennex® colorants, which deliver superior performance and application properties in every product. Paired with our incomparable selection of authentic colors, our products are formulated to help you achieve beautiful, lasting results every time you paint. Read More
Bonnie Paige Bonnie Paige
When it comes to premium paints and stains for your home, we have set the standard for excellence. We manufacture our own resins and proprietary Gennex® colorants, which deliver superior performance and application properties in every product. Paired with our incomparable selection of authentic colors, our products are formulated to help you achieve beautiful, lasting results every time you paint. Read More
ForeverLawn CTNY Matthew Vance
ForeverLawn CTNY provides the highest quality, natural-looking synthetic grass for residential and commercial properties in Westchester County, NY, Fairfield County, CT, Greater New York City and Connecticut. Offering more than 20 varieties of the finest artificial grass alternatives, ForeverLawn CTNY offers cost saving alternatives to traditional landscaping options.Read More
MLC Development, LLC
MLC Development, LLC Milo Ceci
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2020
MEMBER RECRUITMENT
CHALLENGE
SPIKE BIG | WIN BIG Invite new members to join the HBRA for only $395. This invitation is for new members only and valid for one year.
All HBRA members are invited to participate in the 2020 Member Recruitment challenge starting today! Members who recruit new businesses to join will receive NAHB spike points and are eligible for prizes.
How To Recruit New Members 1. Invite new members to join the HBRA at the special 2020 pricing of $395 and
2020nm 2. The HBRA will verify that the company is eligible for the new member pricing and will process their application. Only companies who have not been members for the past 5 years are eligible. 3. Once approved, you will be credited with a new member. We will be updating the member rankings on the HBRA website and on facebook. NOVEMBER 2020 HBRA of Fairfield County 13
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HAVE YOU SEEN OUR COVID RESOURCES PAGE? Visit https://buildfairfieldcounty.com/covid-19-local-and-national-updates/ for the latest news
- Do you have news about your business that you would like to share with the HBRA membership? Email design@buildfairfieldcounty.com to coordinate an instagram story or a newsletter feature.
NOVEMBER 2020 HBRA of Fairfield County 15
N AH B N EWS
More Skilled Workers, Simplified Regulations Needed to Improve Housing Affordability Over the past year, NAHB’s “Building the Dream” series — in partnership with The Hill — has explored various factors contributing to the housing affordability crisis. Although the crisis had been a longstanding issue prior to COVID-19, the current pandemic has altered the situation in many cases, including delays in supply chains, labor shortages and increased interest in the suburbs, that have had a further impact on the cost of housing. The Hill’s Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons this week explored the current conditions of housing affordability with policymakers and industry leaders during the series’ final event. Having access to a safe, affordable housing has been a paramount concern during the pandemic for both home owners and renters. Forbearance and rental assistance have provided short-term relief in the immediate wake of COVID-19, but additional assistance is still needed to prevent families from slipping into poverty, along with longer-term solutions to address overall affordability. Read More
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NAHB Continues to Keep Workers Safe and On the Job Site During the Pandemic From the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, NAHB has been working to keep America’s home builders and trades partners safe and on the job. That effort is now being redoubled as the country faces a worrying spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the virus. Read More
N AH B N EWS
Home Owners Shift Expenses from Entertainment to Home Improvement HomeAdvisor’s latest “State of Home Spending” survey revealed that home owners spent an average of $13,138 on homeimprovement projects in 2020, compared to $9,081 in 2019. Rising costs for material and labor are contributing factors, but with 85% of Americans spending more time at home as a result of COVID-19, home owners are also spending more on the whole by shifting expenses from travel and entertainment toward projects that enhance their homes. Increased home buying is also a factor, primarily driven by millennials, the oldest of whom are now at or close to the median age of first-time home buyers. “Homeownership rates for millennials have jumped significantly, especially as COVID-19 has reemphasized the importance of the home and many companies move to flexible work location options,” said Mischa Fisher, chief economist at HomeAdvisor, in a press release.
Read More
All-Female Built Home Taking Shape in Utah Women in all aspects of the home building industry have come together for what is believed to be the nation’s first home built by an all-female skilled labor team in Saratoga Springs, Utah. “The House that SHE Built” broke ground in September with framing started in mid-November. The 3,200-square foot home is slated to be unveiled at the 2021 Utah Valley Parade of Homes next June, according to the Utah chapter of NAHB’s Professional Women in Building. Read More
It all started with a showroom visit. “Designing and building great homes has always been our dream. That’s why we send our clients to a Bender showroom right at the outset to help them design their bathrooms. There, they can meet with a design consultant and turn on the faucets, climb in the tubs, open the cabinets, touch the tiles, play with the lighting and much more. Clients love it. And it makes our job so much easier.” Get inspired, in person, at a Bender showroom near you.
Chris O’Dell The O’Dell Group
Kathleen Poirier, AIA
Kathleen Poirier Architects, LLC
bendershowrooms.com | 203.495.5183 decorative plumbing | kitchen & bath cabinetry | lighting | tile & stone Hartford | New Haven | Norwalk | Waterbury © 2020 Bender Plumbing
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N AH B N EWS
IRS Says Businesses with Forgiven PPP Loans Share of New Homes Cannot Deduct Expenses with Patios Continues Businesses that get their Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to Edge Up forgiven will not qualify for some valuable deductions, according to IRS guidance that reiterates its position taken in April. In addition, companies that have “a reasonable expectation that the government won’t require them to pay back the money can’t deduct the business expenses paid for by the loan.”
Of the roughly 879,000 singlefamily homes started in 2019, 59.6 percent included patios, according to NAHB tabulation of data from the Survey of “If a business reasonably believes that a PPP loan will be forgiven Construction (SOC, conducted in the future, expenses related to the loan are not deductible, by the U.S. Census Bureau and whether the business has filed for forgiveness or not,” according to a partially funded by HUD). Once statement released by the Treasury Department. again, this set a new record Companies denied loan forgiveness — or which never applied for it high (NAHB began tracking the — can still claim deductions for expenses paid for with PPP money. series in 2005), and once again These include payroll, mortgage and utility costs. the record was set by a narrow margin. The 2019 number was Read More only 0.2 percentage points higher than the 59.4 percent tabulated for 2018. Read More
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N A H B BES T IN AMERICAN LIVIN G
Home Building Can Lead Recovery
Housing in OZ
A recent NAHB article illustrates the role home building can play in leading a recovery, once the economy opens up following the coronavirus-induced downturn. In particular, the article updated NAHB’s estimates of the number of jobs generated, nationally and by industry, when a new home is built. The new estimates show that building an average single-family home generates 2.90 jobs, measured in full-time equivalents (enough work to keep one worker employed for a year); building an average rental apartment generates 1.25 jobs.
Opportunity Zones (OZs) are an economic development tool created by the federal government in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. According to the Internal Revenue Service,
An opportunity zone is an economically distressed community where new investments, under Keep in mind that these are national estimates, designed for use certain conditions, may be eligible when the impacts on all U.S. suppliers of goods and services to the for preferential tax treatment. construction industry — for example, manufacturers of building Localities qualify as opportunity products — are of interest. Never try to use these national estimates zones if they have been nominated to analyze impacts of home building on a state or local economy. for that designation by the state and NAHB maintains separate local impact estimates for that. that nomination has been certified by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. Read More Read More
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURA MOSS; CHRISTOPHER PAGLIARO ARCHITECTS, MARK P. FINLAY INTERIORS, FLETCHER DEVELOPMENT
“Our ads in New England Home generate leads from clients who later discover that we have worked for their friends and colleagues. We often meet people both inside and outside of our business life who say ‘We saw you in New England Home!’”
—Daniel Conlon, DANIEL CONLON ARCHITECTS
nehomemag.com
20 HBRA of Fairfield County | NOVEMBER 2020
Contact Associate Publisher, Roberta Mancuso to learn how New England Home Connecticut can help generate business for your company. rmancuso@nehomemag.com | 203.530.9593
COVID IN SIGH TS
COVID-19 Job Site Safety
General Government Resources CFPB: A Guide to COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Relief CDC: Guidelines for Your Home and Family HUD: Coronavirus Resources and Information FHFA: Coronavirus Assistance Information Read More
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Have a sales question? Email Ed at ed.schultek@sandler.com.
NOVEMBER 2020 HBRA of Fairfield County 25
$ M EM BER REBATES & DISCOUN TS
NOVEMBER 2020 HBRA of Fairfield County 27
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