Iowa City Area HBA Wins National Accolade for 2020 Public Relations Program

The Greater Iowa City Area Home Builders Association (HBA) has received an Award of Excellence (AEA) from the Executive Officers Council (EOC) of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for Best Public Relations Program Conducted during 2020.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have Karyl Bohnsack as our executive officer. She brings energy, enthusiasm and creativity to our HBA. She and (marketing and administrative coordinator) Michelle Moore, through their tireless efforts have continued to keep our HBA not only viable during a national downturn in membership but growing by creating and promoting events that engage not only members but also our community.” 

The winning program was titled Consumer Engagement Contests. During the COVID-19 pandemic, three contests were held to create awareness of the Iowa City Area HBA among consumers, promote members and encourage youth to explore the skilled trades. In each competition, individuals followed guidelines and submitted end-product photos (or a video), HBA members judged entries and the top three winners earned prizes, donated by a member. The contests were:

Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, April 27 – May 8: Youth ages 11-18 were invited to get inspired by the namesake inventor and assemble their wackiest contraption. 

Lego Parade of Homes, May 18 – 29: Kids of all ages were to build a Lego house. Top three in both Building Excellence and Creative Description categories won prizes. A secondary goal was to communicate the 2020 Iowa City Area HBA Parade of New & Remodeled Homes dates change (from June to August due to COVID) and drive traffic to the Parade of Homes website. Winners were announced on the original Parade of Homes awards breakfast date. 

Upcycle Competition, June 15 – 26: People of any age were tasked with finding something needing repurposed and creating a higher-quality product.        

AEA is an annual program designed to recognize outstanding accomplishments of state and local home builders’ associations and executive officers in the field of association management. EOC membership is comprised of staff executives who direct more than 650 NAHB-affiliated state and local home builders’ associations representing more than 140,000 home builders in communities across the United States. 

“The best of the programs and services local and state HBAs offer our members across our Federation are embodied in the AEA submissions,” said Brian Miller, EOC president and executive vice president of the BIA of Northern Kentucky.

“The award winners not only are deserving of the recognition given to their efforts but share their experiences across the NAHB Federation. One of the strongest attributes within the EOC is our ability and willingness to share our efforts and results as professional association managers with our counterparts across the nation. These professionals and their HBAs should be held in high regard given their accomplishments and rightful recognition,” Miller said.