Publication Date:
Tue, 2002-10-29 18:00
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Kent Lay, the senior division president of Beazer Homes' Las Vegas division, is coordinating his company's joint building project with charity organization HomeAid America at the Reed Residential Group's Show Village as part of the 2003 International Builders' Show. The home will be HomeAid's introduction to the Las Vegas area. Lay talks with HousingZone.com about the upcoming build and Beazer's involvement with HomeAid.
Can you describe the project between your company and HomeAid at Show Village, with a bit of detail about the house itself?
We're trying to produce a house that can be used for a charity called Olive Crest, which is for abused or neglected children. The house is being done so it can fit their needs plus the Show Village needs. The house will have approximately six bedrooms. It will be two-story and just over 3,000 square feet. It will have a large living area, a nice kitchen area, a high-tech media room, where we'll have some pretty neat computer setups, and a laundry facility.
How will the build take place?
One of our first hurdles is that they have to decide which municipality they want as the final resting place. That will determine a lot of what we do. But we're trying to get it engineered so that we can build part of it off-site and then truck it in and complete it. We're probably going to finish 100% of the downstairs - it will be completely done, furnished, the whole nine yards - and then the upstairs will be partially finished, meaning we'll probably just do a skeleton frame on the inside. Different products can be showcased inside the walls. And we'll put a roof on it. All of this will help us transport it to its permanent location, because we can dismantle it pretty easily.
How do you see this as an opportunity to promote HomeAid?
I think it will be a great opportunity for them to showcase what they're trying to do and get more support for their organization. It's a growing charity that I think makes a lot of sense for builders to be involved with. It's right up our alley, and it's a way to give back to the local community. The nice thing about HomeAid, too, is that the organization picks a charity to donate these projects to, so you're not tied in to just one charity by going with HomeAid. You're getting a chance to see a multitude of different charities and events and, as a builder, you can sometimes have input into how you want that to go. The other thing about HomeAid is that, since they're trying to get chapters and local interest, this can be great for them to have builders from all over the United States walk through and hopefully say, "HomeAid? What's that?" and then get involved back in their own states and communities. I think for that reason it will be great for HomeAid.
One thing HomeAid really stresses is the benefit of a powerful partnership. Why is your company partnering with HomeAid? What about this organization makes you want to work with it?
The relationship goes all the way to our CEO and president, Ian McCarthy. A number of years ago, Ian got hooked up with HomeAid and was very impressed with what they wanted to do. This is, without a doubt, Beazer's largest charity that we work with, to the point where Ian is the chairman of their advisory board. So our corporate office is very involved with it. For my local division, this is our first experience getting involved with HomeAid. I think it's a very worthwhile charity. The project will go to a real worthy cause, and I think everybody will feel really good about themselves knowing that they participated in something like that and that the company was willing to do that, too.
On the flip side of this partnership, what is it about your company - or, specifically, your division - that you bring to this project?
I think we bring, above everything else, a lot of enthusiasm to do the job. It all starts there, and our division - including myself - has embraced this whole thing, and we're excited about it. We're having fun with it. It's a unique experience for us. I mean, how many times do you have an opportunity to build a house in a parking lot and then figure out how to do it and then to take it away and put it in its permanent resting place? We're excited about the challenge. We're excited about the ability to do something like this for charity. And we're also excited about the process of working with the manufacturers they bring in in order to build better relationships that we have with those companies that we wouldn't have had if it wasn't for this project. We're going to gain besides just the charity aspect - which is the root of it - but there also are ancillary fulfillments, too, with the relationships we'll gain.
One thing you've talked about is Beazer's corporate involvement with HomeAid. Beazer has been a "builder captain" in other parts of the country. This is HomeAid's first project in the Las Vegas market. What do you hope to achieve in this area?
I've made a commitment to HomeAid. Their first wave is to go into a community and get the local home builders association to back their group and sponsor it. To my knowledge, there's been a little bit of resistance with the local home builders association office here. I have committed to HomeAid that if there is still resistance after we get this project done, we're going to start a chapter here with or without the builders association's backing. I'm going to be very instrumental in getting that done, and so is Beazer Homes because it's a worthwhile project that we feel very strongly about. I definitely think HomeAid is going to come out with - one way or another - a local chapter and local presence here. I've already talked to a lot of other builders about this and other businesspeople in the community, and they all feel as strong as I do that they want to do it. So we'll get the support for it.
How many of your employees will be involved in the build?
It could be as few as 10. Or, those last few days, it might be all 140 of us. My objective is to get as many people as possible involved with something like this just because I think it's great for the company to do and great for the employees to feel like they were a part of it and had something good to do within the community where they live and work. It's a success for HomeAid and Olive Crest, but I want success for my division, too, to feel like they were all really a part of this. I think unity is very important. I want as many of my employees with a paintbrush or a hammer in their hand, even if it's only five minutes or a little section of the house. At least then they feel like they were a part of it.
What would you say to other builders about HomeAid and why they should become involved like Beazer has?
I think it's very important that builders be responsible and give back to their communities. What better way to do it than with the thing we do best, and that is build homes and shelters that we can easily incorporate our skill set into? We, as builders, have a lot of contacts and can get people - meaning the contractors and suppliers - to participate in this. The whole burden isn't on the builder, but because we're kind of the orchestral leader, we can find a lot of people who do the things we need done and put something like this together. HomeAid fits that structure very well.
