The National Association of Home Builders elected both its first and its second vice chairmen for 2017 during the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. Randy Noel, a Louisiana-based custom home builder, has been elected First Vice Chairman, and Greg Ugalde, a Connecticut-based builder and developer, has been elected Second Vice Chairman.
Noel’ s custom home building firm, Reve Inc., has built over 1,000 custom homes in the New Orleans area. He has been active in the NAHB at the local, state and national levels throughout his career in the home building industry. He is a senior life director of the NAHB, has served on the Board of Directors for over 20 years, and is a member of the NAHB Executive Board. He has served as chairman of the NAHB Resolutions Committee and Housing Finance Committee, and held seats on the State and Local Government Affairs Committee, the Legal Action Committee and the Budget Committee. He has also served as a past member and chairman of the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code Council from 2006-2011.
He served as the NAHB State Representative from Louisiana in 2009, and was elected as the National Area Chair Moderator in 2012. He has served as president of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans and the state Association of Louisiana, was named Builder of the Year by the HBA of Greater New Orleans in 1997, and was inducted into the Louisiana Builders Hall of Fame in 2008.
“Our priorities this year will be to fight for pro-housing policies that keep the housing recovery on track, create jobs and boost economic growth,” Noel said in a release. “We will urge lawmakers to pass the REINS Act – Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny. The REINS Act would give Congress an up-or-down vote on new regulations to make sure that such regulations reflect the intent of Congress.”
Ugalde is president and chief legal officer of T&M Building Co., which has built over 3,500 homes in more than 40 Connecticut communities, and the founder and owner of GFU Investments, a minority-owned urban builder/developer. He has been active in the NAHB at the local, state, and national level throughout his career. He is a life director of the association, has served on the NAHB Board of Directors for 15 years, and has been a member of the NAHB Executive board for ten years. He has served on many NAHB task forces and committees, including time as the vice chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee and as chairman of four others, including Build-PAC.
He served as the NAHB State Representative from Connecticut from 2006-2010, as Moderator for the State Representatives in 2010, and as the National Area Chairman in 2011 and 2012. He was president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut from 2005-2005, and has served on the HBRA board since 1999. He has also served on the HOMEConnecticut Steering Committee, the National Land Use Attorneys Network, the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing and the Town of Burlington’s IWWC and Parks & Recreation Commission.
“Our focus this year will be to ensure that the housing market continues to strengthen,” said Ugalde. “We will oppose unnecessary and burdensome regulations that harm home builders and consumers and call on lawmakers to protect the mortgage interest deduction and Low Income Housing Tax Credit as part of any tax reform efforts.”
According to the NAHB’s multi-leadership ladder, Noel will become chairman of the NAHB’s Board of Directors in 2018, and Ugalde will become Chairman in 2019.
