President’s Message

I hope you’ve all had a great start to the year. I know it’s been challenging to adjust to the changing market conditions and retool our mindset and work habits. I think if any year it’s important to be a member of the HBA, it’s this year. I love that most of the members are utilizing the tools the association provides to help keep your operation costs down as well as giving you the ability to grow and thrive. I’d like to share a few things we have coming up in the next few months that you should be aware of. We’re gearing up for this year’s Tour of Homes. We expect to have more entries this year compared to last year and we hope you consider participating. This year’s tour runs July 15th-23rd. The Golf Tournament is on July 17th. We have the annual Kick Off Party happening as well, date and location are to be announced at a later date.

As I think back to last year’s Tour of Homes, I was honored to be selected to build the PAC house. Alongside many amazing subcontractors, vendors and suppliers who are all members of the association, we came together to build a beautiful home to raise funds. These funds all go back to benefit us as members and are primarily used towards political advocacy in our local city councils and jurisdictions and help keep our SDC charges and fees reasonable. On a state level the PAC helps to stop the progression of rules and regulations that would hinder our industry with additional senseless requirements.

This year’s PAC house is already underway. It took some time to find a lot because, as we all know, land is very hard to come by. Once we found a property, a number of us past PAC house builders nominated Jordan Schweiger with Good Well Construction Inc. to build this year’s home. The house is off to a great start and looks to be well on its way to being completed by the deadline. We’re very grateful for all those involved that are donating their time and money to make this happen so we can once again raise a good amount for the PAC. If you’re interested in participating, whether it be donating material, labor and/or efforts, please reach out to the HBA and make it known. We would love to help you participate.

by Oleg Foksha 2023 HBA President

As we get closer to July, it would be great if you would spread the word about the Tour. We love to see as many people come as possible and the best advertising is word or mouth. If you’re a builder and you have yet to register your home to participate in the tour, please do so to take advantage of the early registration discounts. If you’re a subcontractor, supplier or vendor, remember you have the opportunity to rent garage space for advertising. This is a great opportunity to advertise and make your business known as we do see very large crowds coming through.

I encourage all builders, subcontractors, suppliers and vendors to keep working together and supporting one another within the association. It’s important to do so to thrive together and build our industry to be greater as we continue to serve our clients and put our stamp on the community. Together we make it better.

To get involved, sign up today. Go online to the HBA Website www.homebuildersassociation.org or contact Haley Hamilton, Director of Events at 503-399-1500.

Sincerely,

Oleg Foksha

HBA, Builders Address Concerns with Salem Building Department’s New Permit Application Software

The Home Builders Association recently convened a meeting with the Salem Building Department to address concerns raised by HBA members about the city’s newly implemented ProjectDox software system used for building permit applications. The meeting was held in mid-March and aimed to discuss the software’s usability and its impact on extended permit review time frames. Numerous HBA members reported difficulties with the ProjectDox software platform, specifically related to the challenges in uploading plans, making changes to previously submitted documents, and the process for efficiently addressing comments and tasks from plans reviewers. These issues have resulted in longer than expected permit application processing times.

The HBA has shared with the Building Department examples of building permit applications that have experienced considerable processing delays. The Building Department has assured the HBA that it will take these concerns seriously and investigate changes that can be made to their processes to streamline the application processing and reduce the delays.

If any HBA members continue to face issues with Salem’s new permit application system, they are encouraged to contact Mike Erdmann at the HBA for further assistance.

We look forward to collaboratively addressing the issues with the city to ensure that their new permit application software results in a more efficient and effective process.