by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The association that markets residential construction in North Florida has been named the nation’s best.
The Sales and Marketing Council, which is part of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, has received the “Sales and Marketing Council Award” for associations with 500 or more members.
The award was presented by the National Association of Homebuilders at last week’s International Builders Show in Orlando.
The association, known colloquially as “SMC,” is a group of Realtors, builders, lenders, associates, on-site agents and those who work in fields related to real estate such as pest control services, public relations and marketing.
Mike Taylor of McCar Homes was chair of SMC last year and said much of the credit for winning the award goes to the membership.
“Obviously, this is a great milestone for the organization,” said Taylor, who handed over the reins to Pud English of Palencia earlier this month. “A lot of past chairs have strived for this and it means a lot to us and the Northeast Florida Builders Association.”
Both English and Taylor credited Portland Stuart, the staff member who runs SMC for the builders’ association, for playing a major role in winning the national award.
“Without Portland, this couldn’t have been done,” said English.
In addition to Taylor, English and Stuart, 2006 NEFBA president Jerry Linder of The Vintage Group was on hand to receive the award.
Taylor said the award is the culmination of a lot of work. SMC was formed 20 years ago and has grown ever since. The past few years, SMC has been in the running for the national award.
“We have been tops in the state for a long time and we have been bridesmaids on the national level several times,” said English, who has been involved with SMC for 15 years. “Mike did an incredible job as chairman and increased membership by 20 percent.”
English said the award is based on a scrapbook — a compilation of SMC’s year.
“The scrapbook has our accomplishments, education programs, networking activities, charity work — everything we have done throughout the year,” said English, adding the scrapbook is scrutinized by a national committee. “We knew we were in the top five because we were on the program. We beat out some big SMCs in cities like Washington, Atlanta and one from California.”
As the 2006 chair, English’s job is to build upon everything from charitable work to membership. SMC currently has about 740 members and English intends to reach a milestone figure during her tenure.
“We have to step it up to the next level. My goal is to increase the membership to 1,000 members,” she said. “It’s a lofty goal, but I think we can do it.”
With a little over 6,000 Realtors in the Northeast Florida region, English has a huge potential member pool and she’s already reeling them in — she signed up 18 at a recent training session. Aside from personally recruiting new members, English has lined up several top-notch speakers for the monthly SMC meetings.
“We have some incredible guest speakers this year. In February, Hope Mihalap will be here. She’s the Erma Bombeck of motivational speaking and we have been after her for a couple of years,” said English. “In March, Charlie Clark will be here. He does metropolitan studies where he breaks down the counties and talks about what areas are opening up and he does feasibility studies for builders.”
Winning the award should prove to be a pretty good recruiting tool, also.
“Yes, it’s a great marketing tool,” she said. “At a recent training session, I asked ‘How would you like to be affiliated with the best SMC in the America?’ The answer was, sign me up.”
Like other past chairs, Taylor will remain active in SMC but understands it’s someone else’s ship to steer.
“Pud definitely has her own agenda and goals. I will provide support and feedback, basically lend more support than anything,” said Taylor.