What a BIG Night indeed! Over 600 people attended this year’s Building Industry Gala at Mystic Lake where we presented all of our 2015 awards together at one BIG event. Thank you to everyone who attended and a special congratulations to all of our 2015 award winners!
“There is something truly amazing about having our industry all together in one room celebrating the incredible work we all do,” said Chris Contreras, BATC 2015 President of Ryland Homes. “It was a wonderful evening with builders, remodelers, their vendors and trade partners all together toasting the industry.”
Cities 97 DJ and signer/songwriter Keri Noble did a fantastic job emceeing the evening. In all ninety nine awards were handed out honoring this year’s best. The full list of winners can be found here.
NEW Rising Star Award
This New Award honors emerging leaders. Rising Stars at the beginning of their career the exemplify leadership qualities and show dedication to activities which build industry relationships and promote professional development. The Rising Star will be awarded to one or more individuals representing excellence as a builder, a remodeler, or an associate.
2015 Rising Star Award – Andy Michels, Bob Michels Construction, Inc. – North Oaks
NEW MN Green Path Leadership Award
The MN Green Path Leadership Award is given to a recipient that inspires us with innovation, passion, and commitment to building energy efficient and sustainable homes. This award is presented by BATC and Residential Science Resources.
2015 MN Green Path Leadership Award – JMS Custom Homes, LLC – Hopkins
Builder of the Year Remodeler of the Year and Associate of the Year
The evening culminated with the presentation of BATC’s most coveted honors, the annual Builder, Remodeler and Associate of the Year Awards. The winning companies were selected based upon evaluations (ratings points plus subjective criteria and comments) of trust, communications, loyalty and ethics by the firms which they do business, and in the case of Builder and Remodeler of the Year, by their customers. The subjective criteria and comments from the five companies receiving the highest point scores were reviewed by past award winners to determine the year’s winners, which are:
2015 BATC Builder of the Year – Robert Thomas Homes, Inc – Lakeville
2015 BATC Remodeler of the Year – Destiny Homes, Inc. – Minnetonka
2015 BATC Associate of the Year – Installed Building Solutions II, LLC – Farmington
Robert L. Hanson Industry Service Award
The Robert L. Hanson Service Award was created to recognize the contributions members make to BATC and the homebuilding industry. BATC’s committees and staff nominate members who have gone a step above in supporting the industry during the past year. Nominees provide biographies which are reviewed by BATC’s current president and previous winners of the award who confer to choose the winner.
2015 Robert L. Hanson Industry Service Award Winner – Craig Plekkenpol, Plekkenpol Builders, Inc. – Bloomington
Spike of the Year The Spike of the Year is awarded to an individual BATC member for recruiting new members to BATC.
2015 BATC Spike of the Year – John Zirbes, Lyman Lumber Co. – Chanhassen
Advocate and Legislator of the Year
BATC is the voice for builders and remodelers, and works to ensure local, regional and state legislators and government officials understand the impacts of regulation and law on the industry’s ability to provide affordable, durable and quality homes for Minnesotans. A healthy residential construction industry is a huge boon to the local economy as well. In fact, according to a study from the National Association of Home Builders, building 1,000 single family homes in the Twin Cities generates over $275 million in local income, over $20 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, 3,615 local jobs and almost $200 million in wages.
The Advocate of the Year honors an individual BATC member for efforts helping BATC in its advocacy work. BATC’s Legislator of the Year honors one or more state legislators for their support of the housing industry. The winners are selected by BATC’s public policy committee.
2015 BATC Advocate of the Year
Frank Kottschade, North American Realty, Inc. – Rochester
2014 BATC Legislator of the Year
Representative Bob Vogel District 20A – Elko New Market
