On Friday, August 9th the Home Builders Association of South Carolina (HBASC) presented the annual Celebration of Excellence awards recognizing achievements by members across the state. Columbia homebuilder Stan O’Brien received the Thomas N. Bagnal Builder Member of the Year award, and Brandon Jeffcoat received the Frank D. Clark Associate Member of the Year award, two of the most prestigious HBASC awards.
Both awards are given to individuals who demonstrate the same qualities as the awards namesakes, both Past Presidents of the HBASC, including tireless service to their community, association and the home building industry. Also recognized was Dottie LaFitte who received the 2019 Defender of the American Dream Award.
LaFitte, recently retired as a custom builder, has been an ardent supporter and defender of the home building industry having served as Build PAC Trustee for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for 37 years. LaFitte has made significant contributions to the housing industry on many levels, unprecentented by any other woman in South Carolina.
As president of LaFitte Custom Homes starting in 1977 she broke through gender barriers and opened the door for women to enter the “man’s world of construction.” As the first woman in Columbia to manage her own residential construction company she led other women in her career through her involvement in the Building Industry Association of Central South Carolina (BIA), HBASC and the NAHB. LaFitte was recognized in February 2019 by the BIA’s Sales and Marketing Council with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her commitment, focus, and energy over a lifetime of superlative results and her leadership and inspiration she has provided to others. LaFitte, a past president of the BIA, was inducted in the South Carolina Housing of Fame in 1998.
Brandon Jeffcoat, Director of Business Development for Clark's Termite & Pest Control, is the recipient of the Associate Member of the Year Award named in memory of Jeffcoat’s mentor Frank D. Clark, founder of Clark’s Termite and Pest Control. Jeffcoat is a member of many home builders associations around the state and actively participates in events throughout the year. Notably, Jeffcoat served on the BIA of Central SC Board of Directors as Associates Vice President in 2018 and on the SMC Board of Directors as chair of the Program Committee. In addition, he serves on the committees for the BIA Golf Classic and the Michael P. Nieri Bass Classic. A previous recipient of the SMC Member of the Year he volunteers to deliver school supplies for St. Lawrence Place and supports many other community service organizations.
Stan O’Brien, owner of Paradime Construction, Inc., was honored for his tireless dedication to the home building industry and the work of the association. He joined the association in 1999 and became more active in 2007 when the High Performance Building Council was formed by members. He joined the Executive Committee and was elected Chairman of the Council in 2014. He was involved in developing the council’s Certified High Performance (CHiP) Home Program and has built certified homes, including the first one in the program that now boasts over 5500 certified homes.
O’Brien has also been an active member in the BIA’s Building Code Review Committee for many years. He has spent countless hours at many meetings to help keep building codes robust yet cost effective and usable by all builders in the state. In 2016, O’Brien helped develop the BIA Remodelers Council’s Certified Universal Living Program and built the first three certified homes in the program. He is currently a Builder Director on the BIA Board of Directors.
The HBASC commends these members of the Building Industry Association of Central South Carolina on their commitment to the home building industry and to our community.
#####
SCBIZtv is part of the SC Biz News family, serving 100,000 high-level business execs throughout South Carolina.
Click for more from SCBIZtv.
