North Central Home Builders has charter revoked

March 29--WENATCHEE -- The National Association of Home Builders revoked the charter of its Wenatchee chapter in February, and reassigned the territory to Yakima's group.

At its annual meeting Feb. 6, the national group found that some members of North Central Home Builders Association had created a new organization called Building! North Central Washington, and shifted much of its membership to that group, said Art Castle, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington.

Castle said that from June 2012 to June 2013, the North Central Home Builders Association dropped from 337 members to 107 members. Building! NCW, in the same period, increased from 16 members to 239, he said.

Chartered since 1997, North Central Home Builders AssociationMarc Straub, who is the Home Builders' executive officer and CEO of Building! NCW.

Straub denied that Building! NCW -- which formed in 2012 -- pulled members from the local home builders association. He said the new group represents small businesses, including the building trades, and its mission is different.

"The one common thread is that both organizations share the same staff. But the staff answered to two separate boards," he said.

Randy Gold, founding president of North Central Home Builders Association, said he resigned from the building association board to become a board member for Building! NCW to avoid a conflict.

Gold said Seattle's chapter of the building association essentially took over the state organization in 2010.

"It's heart-breaking to me," he said of the revocation. "It was like my baby. I put so much time and effort into building the association."

Building! NCW is not associated with any state or federal organization, Straub said. "But we are working closely with the Freedom Foundation based in Olympia," he said. Freedom Foundation is a conservative advocacy group with a mission of advancing individual liberty, free enterprise and accountable government.

Castle said members who paid dues to belong to the builders association in Wenatchee will automatically become members of the Yakima organization, called Central Washington Home Builders Association.

Carly Faul, executive officer for Yakima's chapter, said they recently held their first meeting in Wenatchee. "The biggest thing we're finding is that the members up there are really kind of confused about where things are, and where they belong," she said. She said members should know the association is specifically dedicated to businesses in the construction industry.

She said being affiliated with a state- and national-affiliated home builders associations enables members to take advantage of the group's health plan, return on industrial insurance plan and other programs. The associations also lobby for concerns of builders at the state and national levels.

Castle said the national organization's decision to revoke its charter had nothing to do with political stands made by Building! NCW, which has been actively critical of some local politicians.

"Building! NCW is very aggressive in terms of accountability of local government, and in working to help forward sensible regulations, and push back against over-reaching regulations," Straub said.

He said the group is 300 members strong, and expects to grow. "We're still strongly involved in Okanogan County, and in Chelan and Douglas counties, and we're excited about the future," he said.

Reach K.C. Mehaffey at 509-997-2512 or mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com. Read her blog An Apple a Day or follow her on Twitter at @KCMehaffeyWW.

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