Business View Magazine | February 2021

53 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2021 HOME BUI LDERS ASSOC I AT ION OF HI CKORY-CATAWBA VALLEY split out and formed their own Home Building Associations. “This is the way they operate today,” Kamp explains. “There’s our Association, and two others in adjoining counties. So, right now, we’re representing Alexander and Catawba.” “We’re at 193 members, of which 66 are builder members,” shares Executive Officer, Kim Crawford. “We’ve held strong; we’ve gained some and lost some throughout the year. But to be in a pandemic and reporting the same number of memberships we had a year ago, we feel pretty fortunate.” “I’m mostly a remodeler, and business has been wide open this year,” confirms the HBA’s 2020 President, Robert Crouch. “I’ve probably turned down or put off as much work as I’ve taken on. Which is a good sign.” Since the collapse of the housing boom beginning in 2008, builders have been reluctant to build across the area, both because the demand for new homes plunged and the supply of unsold properties has remained high. “The builders that came in and the community. “At the time the Association got together, the initial thinking was to challenge the unfavorable reputation that builders had,” says Gerald Kamp, a three-time President of the Hickory-Catawba Valley HBA and former Regional Vice President for the NCHBA. “They wanted to improve the status of home builders – which, incidentally, I don’t remember being that bad – and so they formed the HBA and it was chartered with 10 members. An HBA has two types of members: builder members, who are directly involved in building homes; and associate members, who provide products or services to home builders. This charter group of 10 individuals had some of each.” Residents often refer to the Hickory Metro area as the Unifour, which comprises the four neighboring counties of Catawba, Alexander, Burke, and Caldwell. About a decade into the life of the Hickory-Catawba Valley HBA, two of the original counties, Burke and Caldwell, Hollar Mills - Courtesy of Neill Grading & Construction Co.