46 Business View - December 2014
it on houses,” continued Rostetter. “Ralph recognized
that pattern early on, anticipated the demand, and
recognized that no other builder was building homes
to meet the demand.”
While the intense military focus enabled the company
to remain insulated from the worst impacts of the glob-
al recession, they understood that rising home costs
kept the dream of home ownership out of reach for so
many. So, the team got to work figuring out how they
could further improve efficiencies to build a home with
more value so that families could afford the space
they needed.
“H&H’s product reinvention resulted in the 2009
launching of its American Dream Collection, engi-
neered to provide greater value for the dollar with
more square footage, attractive home designs and
open floor plans,” said Ralph Huff. “The success of
that launch, a company focus on efficiency, and our
expansion into Jacksonville, NC, home of Marine base
Camp Lejeune and Goldsboro, home of Seymore John-
son Air Force base led to H&H’s peak number of clos-
ings (457) in 2010.”
At the same time, H&H leadership saw need for non-
military market diversification.
Positive signals from markets like Raleigh and Wilm-
ington and areas north pushed H&H to gradually ex-
tend its reach to more civilian communities like Golds-
boro and Moore County, and their success prompted a
creep into territories south of Jacksonville. In the last
18 months, full-scale moves – complete with store-
front offices – have been made into Charlotte, Wilm-
ington and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
“Due to a number of economic factors, this year saw
a pretty significant decline in sales and closings in the
CONSTRUCTION
