Bill Garrison was a lumber salesman with Manning Building Supplies in 1993 when he was invited to become involved with the Northeast Florida Builders Association by his largest customer, Roger Higginbotham of Sid Higginbotham Builder Inc.
Twenty-four years later, Garrison found himself at the head of the table in the NEFBA headquarters conference room, being interviewed by the organization’s executive committee for its top administrative post.
It was a surreal moment for the U.S. Navy veteran, who had spent most of his formative years and adult life in the Jacksonville area, learning about the construction industry, literally, from the ground up following his six-year military service.
Serving as executive director of the Clay Florida Economic Development Corp. at the time, Garrison stood on the precipice of his career coming full circle, and he was excited about the possibilities.
That same afternoon, he took the call he had been waiting for from NEFBA President Lee Arsenault.
“I remember when I got home he called me about five o’clock and said, ‘Bill, we'd like to let you know we'd like to offer you the job as executive officer.’
“I just went ‘YES!’,” Garrison said. “And then he said, ‘I'd also like to let you know you're on speaker phone.’”
Although he hadn’t really left, Garrison was back home.
In August, Garrison succeeded Corey Deal, who served for four years as the NEFBA executive officer. Deal left the post earlier this summer to become executive officer of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association.
“It's almost hard to put into words to be honest,” Garrison said. “Given my background in having worked in the industry for 27 years, to lose my job in the industry because of the recession, then to land on my feet where I got some experience managing a nonprofit and to be able to come back home, it’s almost too good to be true.”
A big impact
While Garrison’s head is clearly in the clouds over his new position, his feet have hit the ground running. NEFBA’s government affairs arm has been embroiled in discussions with local governments over the growing trend to impose and/or increase impact fees on new home construction to offset growing infrastructure costs, particularly transportation.
He agrees that governments need more revenue to provide infrastructure to accommodate growth, but adds it’s his job and that of any industry trade organization to advocate for its membership.
“Every cost that is added to manufacturing the product drives the cost up,” Garrison said of impact fees. “The business can't eat it. Everyone is competing on very thin margins, so now every dollar you add to it ends up in the price.
“Now you add $10,000 or $15,000 to the price of the home and the homeowner that qualified here, they no longer qualify,” Garrison continued. “Someone who is buying a $500,000 house is not going to be hurt by a $5,000 impact fee. Unfortunately, it is politically expedient. You're taxing people who are not even here yet.”
Impact fees are rolled into the price of the homes and eventually financed by the buyers in their mortgages. Meanwhile, home values don’t necessarily rise to reflect the additional cost of the impact fees, leaving new construction homeowners behind resale buyers in equity.
And it can adversely impact buyers of new construction who are moving within the market.
“All of these new homes are not being sold to people who are out of the area,” Garrison said. “These points have been argued to death, but it’s our job to keep going up there and arguing.”
In addition to advocacy for the industry, NEFBA also provides educational opportunities to its membership and operates its charitable arm, Builders Care. Its apprenticeship program also helps cultivate the next generations of industry professionals.
Between the ditches
At 73, NEFBA is the oldest, and largest, homebuilders association in Florida. It’s also the fifth-largest in the nation.
As its newest custodian, Garrison has a profound understanding of the history of NEFBA, and how its membership responded to the Great Recession, and has responded since. He also understands the challenges its members face in good times and in bad.
“NEFBA is as large as it is because it's been a very well-run organization and it's fulfilled its mission,” Garrison said in explaining NEFBA’s size and scope. “During the lean times, the members hung together. Yes, membership dipped, but they hung in. Now things are recovering and people are rejoining.
“Northeast Florida has grown literally for decades,” he continued. “Jacksonville was a sleepy little town back in the 1950s or so, and this town has just gradually grown. It's a beautiful place to live. It has an NFL team, great weather and beautiful natural resources, so it attracts people. We've enjoyed seven years of a recovery, and all of that combined and has led to this.
“My challenge is not to run it into the ditch.”
Garrison said he has plenty of help to prevent that. He credits his predecessor for building a highly capable staff of professionals.
“Corey Deal hired every person but one who is here now,” said Garrison, 56. “It's a dream team. It is so cool to come in here and work with these young — compared to me —professionals who are engaged, smart and energetic.”
Different perspective
Unlike his immediate predecessors, Garrison worked his way from the ground up in the construction industry. He’s labored at construction sites, has sold building materials to builders and served as an executive for a custom homebuilder. That experience, plus his last five years overseeing the Clay County EDC, represents a natural, albeit gradual, progression to his new role.
“I have a unique background in that I think I'm the first who came through the industry to this position,” said Garrison. “The others had different backgrounds. They were nonprofit management-type people. Corey had a law degree and was an attorney.
“I know what it's like to be out there as an hourly employee, a subcontractor, a supplier, and I worked for a custom homebuilder,” he continued. “I climbed the ranks of the industry and I think that gives me special insight of what it’s like to sit out there as a lumber salesman and be a part of this association.”
Not only did Roger Higginbotham invite Garrison to become involved with NEFBA in 1993, he eventually became operations manager for Sid Higginbotham Builder, one of Northeast Florida’s best-known custom homebuilders with sales of $24 million per year.
He worked for Higginbotham for 10 years before accepting the leadership position with Clay County EDC in 2012. In all, he spent 27 years in the residential development industry in a variety of disciplines.
Now he has his dream job leading his dream team into what he believes is an even brighter future for NEFBA. And he joins the organization just in time for final planning for the organization’s new headquarters soon to begin construction at 6789 Southpoint Parkway.
“It's so exciting,” Garrison concluded. “It’s a good time to be here.”