Daniel Blanchard took the oath of office as president of the Northeast Florida Builders Association in January 2014. Blanchard served the association the year it celebrated its 70th anniversary.
Blanchard has been a NEFBA member for 19 years, coming to Jacksonville in 1996 with Barnett Bank. With a business degree and later an MBA from the University of Florida, he served the real estate industry as a lender for many years.
He started his own business based on his extensive experience in land acquisition, development and sales and later expanded from residential properties into multi-family, industrial, commercial and office properties. Blanchard is now executive vice president of Ewing Real Estate.
As he takes his place on the NEFBA Executive Committee as immediate past president, Blanchard reflects on the year, his increased awareness of the association’s mission and shares his advice for in-coming President Rick Morales.
Question: What was the greatest challenge you faced this year in your role as the president of the association?
Answer: The challenges were tempered by the exceptional support system in place for a NEFBA president. Executive Director Corey Deal and the entire NEFBA staff carried much of the load and kept me on the right track.
The executive committee was a great resource. I owe all of them a huge thank you. They made it a great year for me. My biggest challenge was actually time management.
Like most other members, increased business made more demands on my time, and I didn’t want to miss any opportunity to meet with other members, welcome new members, host events and be where I was needed. As hectic as it sometimes was, I wouldn’t have missed a minute of it.
Q: What was your primary goal for the association during your tenure as president and were you able to realize it?
A: My primary goal was to help the association grow. Fortunately for the construction industry and NEFBA, 2014 was a growth year. And, membership grew with it, thanks to the all-out effort of Corey and the NEFBA staff and our members. It was a time of settling in for some of the staff and for me, but we managed to get in the groove and hit our stride.
I also wanted to ensure members were engaged by providing new and exciting opportunities to network, to learn and to excel. Events such as Meet the Builder grew this year, and participants enjoyed the benefits.
The calendar now contains more educational programs, committee meetings, social and networking events, with something for every interest and need.
The Gala celebrating the association’s 70th anniversary certainly reflected the energy and enthusiasm of our members. The turnout was great and you could feel the excitement in the air. It was reassuring to me to think about how NEFBA has weathered ups and downs in the market and continues to grow stronger.
Q: How does the association provide value to its members and what do you see as the greatest member benefit?
A: It’s hard to pick out a best benefit. There are so many — business connections, learning opportunities, industry expertise. The recent election points to a very important benefit: political advocacy.
Members and staff worked very hard on critical seats at the state and local levels and those efforts were rewarded with a 90 percent success rate. NEFBA-endorsed candidates were elected in what may be a record-breaking victory. (See results on this page.) Consider that all the members, the association and the industry will benefit.
The association’s political awareness and aggressive action protected the industry and your livelihood, helping ensure continued growth and protecting our quality of life.
Q: What advice would you offer the 2015 president of NEFBA, Rick Morales?
A: It may sound like a cliché, but the year literally will be gone over before you know it. So my advice is to Rick is to begin aggressively planning now.
Think about your vision for NEFBA, what you want to accomplish and begin planning now. Once the year starts, it’s like being on a bus going 100 miles an hour.
If you want to make a difference, you need to start early … go for the quick start. And, remember you’ve got the greatest association in the world behind you. Have a great year!