December 24, 2015

National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will honor four individuals who have excelled in teaching NAHB education courses with Educator of the Year awards. The 2015 winners will be recognized next month at the 2016 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas.

“The four each hold at least two NAHB professional designations themselves, further demonstrating their commitment to lifelong education,” said 2015 NAHB Education Chair Tom Stephani, CAPS, CGP, CGR, GMB and MIRM, an Illinois custom home builder and instructor. “These men don’t just talk about the importance of education. They also work to stay current, and even ahead, of industry trends so they can better teach the home builders, remodelers and other industry professionals who take their classes.” 

Honorees include:

Builder/Remodeler Educator of the Year Paul Evans, CGA, CGP is widely recognized as a building materials industry expert with more than 32 years of experience. Based in Texas, Evans is the market sales manager for BMC, a national building materials distribution company. He was the content reviewer for the NAHB course Basics of Building and a subject matter expert for the course Marketing and Sales for Building Professionals. Evans is also a licensed contractor in nine states.

Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) Educator of the Year Steve Hoffacker, CAPS, Master CSP, MIRM, Hoffacker Associates LLC, West Palm Beach, Fla., has been active in the new home sales industry for more than 30 years. Hoffacker has received many awards throughout his career, including the Trina Ripley Excellence in Education Award and the William ‘Bill’ Molster Award for lifetime sales education achievement.

Certified Green Building Educator of the Year John Freer, CGB, CGP, Master CGP, is owner and principal of GBS Consulting in Missoula, Mont. After developing and launching the Missoula Green Building Initiative, John expanded the program to form the Montana Green Build Program, which serves more than 2,500 Montana BIA members.

Sales and Marketing/Institute of Residential Marketing Educator of the Year S. Robert August, CSP, CMP, Master CSP, MIRM, is president of North Star Synergies in Centennial, Colo. He has served NAHB as chairman of the National Sales and Marketing Council and as president of the Institute of Residential Marketing and was recognized as the 2014 NAHB Leader in Membership Retention and Recruitment.

“NAHB strives to improve professionalism among our members and elevate the industry through education. We strongly encourage builders, remodelers and other housing professionals to reach the next stage in their careers by earning an NAHB designation,” said Stephani.