The headline question generates all kinds of conflicting views. Yet, what we can all agree on is the issue that declining starter-home activity has stubbornly persisted over recent years. The National Association of Realtors reports the share of first-time home buyers is still well below historical averages, bottoming-out just two years ago. The number of first-time home buyers is only now starting to inch up.
Alarm bells have sounded across nearly every U.S. housing market. But what can an individual home builder, contractor, building product manufacturer, or lender do to help solve a such a thorny, complex challenge?
One leading manufacturer, Ply Gem Building Products, has rolled up its sleeves, opened its checkbook, and challenged its industry partners to join the company on its mission.
100 Homes and Counting
“Already this year we’ve helped to build or contributed products for about 100 homes,” explains Gary E. Robinette, Ply Gem chairman and CEO. Ply Gem is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of residential windows, patio doors, siding and accessories, stone veneer, fence, and rail.
Those 100 homes are just the beginning, according to Robinette. “The second half of this year we’ll contribute even more products, and we anticipate many of our associates will give back to their communities in the form of volunteer service,” he says. Ply Gem employs about 9,000 associates across 30 U.S. manufacturing facilities.
Ply Gem is donating more than $1 million in building materials and generating industry awareness for making the dream of homeownership accessible to more Americans through its Home for Good project.
The Home for Good project features country music artist Darius Rucker as the national ambassador. The acclaimed singer is lending his time and talent to help raise awareness and inspire action. A life-sized cutout of Rucker’s image – along with other signage now appears in more than 800 distribution outlets, helping lift program awareness.
Through Home for Good, Ply Gem has also partnered with nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity. Habitat has a respected record of service in making safe, clean, entry-level homes available to carefully qualified families. Habitat for Humanity ranks high among the nation’s top home builders.
80+ Homes. 32 Cities. 18 States. 1 Week.
This past June, Home for Good volunteers participated in the annual Home Builders Blitz. The Blitz is a week long event that brings together builders and contractors across the country in a home-building flurry. By week’s end, Blitz teams in Raleigh, N.C., Murfreesboro, Tenn., Omaha, Neb., Pittsburgh, Savannah, Ga., and 25 other communities in 18 states presented keys to new homes to more than 80 deserving families.
“It’s great when the industry joins forces and focuses like this. The week reminds us all about the importance of a starter home,” Robinette says.
Sustaining Need
The spirit of Home for Good project is just one aspect of the company’s response. “We constantly ask ourselves, ‘How can we improve manufacturing efficiency and pull down product costs so entry-level homes can be more affordable and accessible?’ We also make expert training available to help address labor shortages and speed new-home delivery,” Robinette says.
The approach works: Ply Gem’s Home for Good project will continue throughout 2018. To learn more and volunteer, visit here.
