Meet OHBA's New CEO

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 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

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.

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

in 2010. I think we paid $111,000. We sold it years later for a lot more than that, and then we purchased another rental unit in Hamilton. Then I bought a home in Burlington, and sold it last year when my job was becoming too busy not to be downtown.

“But each time it gets harder. I’m lucky that I started buying homes when I was 22, with a $5,000 down payment! Now I look at people trying to get in the market and that’s outside the realm of reality. There are so many out there working every single day trying to achieve the dream of homeownership. This issue of lack of supply is a big barrier, and our members have the opportunity to provide a very concrete solution to the problem of getting more homes built and making them more affordable.

WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE INTERACTION YOU WITNESSED DURING YOUR TIME IN GOVERNMENT THAT MADE YOU WANT TO BE PART OF OHBA?

“It wasn’t any one thing, but I was always impressed by the ability of OHBA under the leadership of President Bob Schickedanz to make complex problems understandable— taking what could be complicated, technical issues facing their large and diverse membership and presenting them through a lens that helps government understand the impacts on real people.

“And now we are in this very unique position, where issues tangentially impacting our industry, like labour and market access, are top of mind for government. So that tradition of being able to effectively communicate the needs and wants of our membership in a very tangible way is something I think is going be very useful to the organization and something I can help with as we continue on in that regard.”

YOU LOVE THE TIMING OF THIS.

“Right now, all levels of government are looking to the industry for some proactive and productive long-term strategies. I really want to put forward this new vision of the OHBA, which is focused primarily on advocacy and making sure that we are being a good partner to government. And when it comes to finding solutions, trying to be a bit more visible in those conversations. The OHBA has the opportunity to build trust and profile the industry in a positive light in order to counteract some of the misconceptions put forward by organizations that might not necessarily be aligned with some of our objectives or the best interests of the Ontario people. At the end of my tenure, I want for people to look at OHBA as the primary voice of the building and development industry. And I want our members to feel that they really contributed to a probem impacting people across the country.”

WHAT’S FIRST ON THE AGENDA?

“The OHBA has a great campaign that they’re running for the election. Bob, our president, and our staff will be carrying the weight of that. As for me, when there is a change of leadership it’s always a great opportunity to re-engage. My focus is to take the next few months to meet as many of our members as possible. I’m a big believer in instilling a sense of ownership in any process you’re putting out there. I think it will be important for me to ask, ‘What are some innovative ways that we can bring your company and your association back under the umbrella of OHBA? What are some of the innovative ways that we can take your concerns to government? But more important, what haven’t we been doing that you’d like to see?’ Then we can put all that into a strategic plan that we will launch in the fall.

“The people who pay the membership dues are the ones who really keep the lights on. And I’m the kinda guy who’ll be happy to drive anywhere in the province if asked. Or, if not asked, I might show up at one of the EO’s doors and ask, ‘How can we work together today?’ I have a reputation of being accessible 24/7. I hope to be accessible to our membership 24/7 too, and to create as many personal relationships as possible so that I can get a sense of exactly what their needs are and how we can address those needs with a proper strategy.”