WASHINGTON - New officers were elected to lead the National Association of Home Builders during the group's meeting at the recent International Builders' Show in Las Vegas.

Elected as NAHB's Chairman of the Board is Greg Ugalde, a Connecticut builder and developer with extensive experience in the home building industry. Ugalde is president and chief legal officer of Torrington-based T&M Building Co. Inc., one of the state's largest home builders. He is also the founder and owner of GFU Investments, LLC, a builder/developer minority-owned business that focuses on urban development and workforce housing.

"A top priority this year will be to address ongoing housing affordability concerns," said Ugalde. "On average, government regulation accounts for nearly 25 percent of the price of building a single-family home and more than 30 percent of the cost of a typical multifamily development. We will urge federal policymakers to take appropriate actions to ease regulatory burdens in order to put families in homes, create jobs and move the economy forward. We will also call on Congress to advance comprehensive housing finance reform and to adopt sensible workforce development and immigration policy that will help our industry fill open jobs."

Dean Mon was elected as First Vice Chairman of the Board. A New Jersey-based builder and developer with more than 30 years of experience in the home building industry, Mon is president of the D.R. Mon Group, Inc., which specializes in the development and construction of green urban living projects throughout New Jersey.

John "Chuck" Fowke, a Tampa, Florida-based custom home builder with 40 years of experience in the home building industry, was elected as Second Vice Chairman of the Board. Fowke is founder and president of Homes by John C. Fowke, Inc. His company has built hundreds of luxury homes throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Jerry Konter was elected to the NAHB leadership as Third Vice Chairman of the Board. A Savannah, Georgia-based home builder with 40 years of experience in the home building industry, Konter founded Konter Quality Homes in 1977. His company is one of the largest home building firms in Savannah and has established 17 communities and built more than 2,000 homes throughout the local metro area.

2018 NAHB Chairman Randy Noel, from LaPlace, Louisiana, remains on the board as Immediate Past Chairman. Noel is president of Reve Inc., a custom home building firm that has developed more than 1,000 custom homes in the greater New Orleans area.

NAHB's CEO is Jerry Howard. With more than 25 years of lobbying and association experience in Washington, D.C., Howard heads up the staff of more than 240 working out of the National Housing Center in Washington. He has served as the association's CEO/EVP since February of 2001 and previously was NAHB's chief tax counsel.

NAHB is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. The association is affiliated with 700 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB says its builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for this year.

NAHB also hosts the International Builders' Show, the largest event of its kind for industry professionals. The event is co-located with the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, part of Design & Construction Week. The next IBS will be held in Las Vegas Jan. 21-23, 2020.

Photos: NAHB website