Three Northeast Florida Builders Association members received state honors from the Florida Home Builders Association this month in Orlando.
Bob Rhodes was elected to the Florida Housing Hall of Fame, Doug Wenzel was named Associate of the Year and Larry Murr was chosen Remodelor of the Year.
Robert M. Rhodes
Land-use attorney and NEFBA member Bob Rhodes was elected to the Florida Housing Hall of Fame after being nominated by the Northeast Florida Builders Association.
Rhodes was installed into the Hall of Fame earlier this month in a ceremony delayed by Hurricane Wilma. Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham was also named to the Hall of Fame.
A long-time advisor to the Florida Home Builders Association on growth management and land-use issues, Rhodes recently resigned as executive vice president and general counsel of the St. Joe Company to join the law firm of Foley & Lardner where he will focus on business law, environmental regulations and public affairs.
Prior to his St. Joe assignment, Rhodes held similar positions with Arvida Corporation and Disney Development Company. He was also the first administrator of Florida’s growth management program and counsel to the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
Rhodes chaired state commissions that developed revisions to Florida’s growth management and administrative procedures programs. He has also chaired both the Environmental and Land Use and Administrative law sections of the Florida Bar.
“Bob has always been a strong proponent of funding growth management,” said
Florida Home Builders Association legislative counsel Richard Gentry. “He believes, as we do, that broad-based funding sources should be tapped to pay for the infrastructure needs created by growth.”
Rhodes has also been a proponent of limited, legally accessed impact fees and was the lead attorney on FHBA’s precedent-setting St. John School Impact Fee case that challenged the “rational nexus” test for impact fees.
During his career, Rhodes earned the respect of a succession of Florida governors - from Bob Graham to Jeb Bush - for his understanding of growth management issues. Rhodes is the only person in Florida who participated in all three Environmental Land Management Study Commissions which led to the state’s Growth Management Act.
Rhodes also served as the “conscience” of the FHBA Legal Action Committee, developing legal strategies and assessing the statewide significance of cases coming before the Committee.
“Without question, Bob Rhodes is one of the best friends our industry has ever had,” said Gentry. “Bob provided long-term vision in the process of developing the state’s land use and growth management laws and, in the process, preserved private property rights and promoted a regulatory environment in which developers could produce livable, desirable communities.”
Rhodes is a former chair of the Downtown Development Authority, a member of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission and now chairs the mayor’s Growth Management Task Force.
Douglas Wenzel
Doug Wenzel, director of sales and marketing for Bonded Builders Home Warranty Association, was named the Florida Home Builders Association Associate of the Year. Wenzel is a familiar face in the 14 local home builders associations across the state where he holds membership.
Nominated for Associate Member of the Year honors by the Northeast Florida Builders Association, Wenzel promotes membership.
“Anyone who makes a dime working in our industry needs to be giving back to the industry and membership in their local builders associations is the first step,” Wenzel said. “Our industry has it good right now, but things can change in a heartbeat. We should never take for granted all the things our associations are doing to keep our businesses going strong.”
Wenzel has personally enrolled 551 members in the home builders associations he serves in Florida, south Alabama and Georgia.
“Doug likes to tell people not to take the good times for granted,” said NEFBA Executive Vice President Arnold Tritt. “He is a firm believer in the value of the local associations, and his enthusiasm is contagious.”
Wenzel speaks at new-member orientations at NEFBA, and he is quick to point out there’s more to membership than getting new business.
“If people join the association just to get new business, they’ve joined for the wrong reason,” Wenzel said. “Membership should be a long-term commitment. It’s dedication to the association and the industry that pays off in the long run.”
In addition to his commitment to building membership, Wenzel has served on a number of NEFBA committees. He chaired the Membership Committee for five years and the Orientation Committee for three years. He also served as second and third vice president of the Executive Committee and was on the Gala Committee and the SMC Membership Committee. He served as chair of the FHBA Membership Committee in 2001 and the Spike Committee in 2005.
Lawrence Murr
Larry Murr, CGR, CAPS, of Jacksonville has been named Florida’s 2005 Remodelor of the Year.
Drawing on his experience as a leader of the NEFBA Remodelors Council and the NAHB Remodelors Council, Murr invested his time and talents to chair the FHBA Remodelors Council in 2003-2004.
His approach to his chairmanship produced changes in the state Council. Quarterly meetings were well-organized, down the minute. The work of the Council took on an effective structure with five committees focusing on the specific areas of membership, education, communications, certification programs and building codes.
Murr’s accomplishments with the FHBA Council included restructuring the Council’s Board to include representation from all active local Councils. He created an offering of remodelor education at the FHBA-sponsored Southeast Building Conference, including all the classes required for the Certified Graduate Remodelor (CGR), Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) and Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) designations. Murr was responsible for monitoring of the development of the new Florida Building Code and the rehabilitation section that impacted remodelers and promoted a remodelers’ warranty program as a marketing and consumer relations tool.
Murr also created “Road Shows” to bring remodeling education to the local home builders associations and their Remodelors Councils around the state. He is credited with the development of a model remodeling contract with all the new disclosures required by state law. Murr secured ongoing funding for state Council activities, including an annual “Remodelors Night Out” at the SEBC and financial support for the vice chair to attend the NAHB Spring Board Remodelors Council Meeting in Washington.