Inside Storey Tiger-Cats fan—and don’t talk to me about that Grey Cup loss. But my dad’s a big racing fan, so we grew up watching that too. And I like to cook. My brother runs a small business in Hamilton called Andiamo, which is Italian for ‘let’s go.’ It’s a cool barbershop/café/bar concept, and I like making espresso, so I try and get down there and help with the coffee shop part of it as much as I can.” AND YOUR PARENTS?
They’re Hamiltonians through and through. My father’s family comes from Abruzzo, Italy, and my mother’s is Sicilian. My dad owned a photography studio, Joseph’s Photographer. Now he does some contract work, but also gets to photograph the athletes at Iron Man races around the world. My mother is retired. She worked at Bank of Montreal for almost 30 years, managing branches around Hamilton.
DRIVEN OHBA’s new CEO will put on the mileage in new role BY TED McINTYRE WITH LUCA BUCCI
“I AM A DRIVEN public relations professional with federal and provincial government expertise, and an extensive network in Queens Park and Parliament Hill, who possesses the ability to multitask in highpressure situations with the utmost attention to detail.” That’s how Luca Bucci’s LinkedIn profile commenced as of the end of April. It could’ve been the opening line to his job application for the Ontario Home Builders’ Association’s CEO post, left vacant with the departure of Joe Vaccaro last October. But the quote was actually an admission of character as much as Bucci’s work assets. “No marriage. No girlfriends. No pets,” says Bucci, former Chief of Staff at the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and now the OHBA’s brand new CEO. With a provincial election in ohba.ca
@onhomebuilder
the offing and housing supply and affordability atop the agenda, Bucci thankfully arrives refreshed after a three-week vacation to his ancestral homeland of Italy—his first personal holiday in eight years. Given his nose-to-the-grindstone passion, there might not be another extended getaway for a similar span. OHB: YOU’VE GOT SOME BIG SHOES TO FILL. LUCA BUCCI: “Very big. And Joe
also has great hair to try to copy.” WAS THAT A PREREQUISITE?
“I think so (laughs). You had to have so many inches of curls in order to qualify. My hair was a lot longer when I was interviewing, so I checked that box.” TIME FOR ANY HOBBIES?
“I’m not really a big sports guy, but I am from Hamilton, so I’m a big
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS JOB THAT APPEALED TO YOU?
“The home building/development industry has always interested me. I was really able to sink my teeth into it in my previous role when I was Chief of Staff to Minister Steve Clark. So when the opportunity came up, it was almost too good to be true. It was the chance to become the next person in a long line of the OHBA’s great service to the home building industry.” IT’S A MARKET YOU GOT INTO PRETTY EARLY IN LIFE.
“My brother and I first got jobs when we were 14 or 15 years old—I worked at Blockbuster Video. My mother said, ‘You are giving me 75% of your paycheques.’ I was making minimum wage, so it was like $185 a week. Over the years, that developed into a little bundle of savings. When I started university, my mother looked at my brother and I and said, ‘You’re going to invest in real estate. The money that we took from you…we are giving it back now.’ It was more than $5,000 each. The first place we bought was a condo on King and James in Hamilton ONTARIO HOME BUILDER LATE SPRING 2022
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