National Association of Home Builders names Charlottean as first vice chairman

Charlotte-based home builder Rick Judson was elected as the 2012 first vice chairman of the National Association of Home Builders during the association’s International Builders’ Show in Orlando.

Judson is the owner of Evergreen Development Group in Charlotte, and has worked for several decades in land development and construction of single-family, multifamily and commercial projects.

In a statement, he said the trade group's focus will be to help home buyers and home builders gain better access to credit.

“As the housing industry begins to gradually emerge from its worst downturn since the Great Depression, our focus this election year will be to ensure that housing and homeownership remain a national priority,” Judson said. “We will be urging policymakers to restore the flow of credit to home buyers and home builders alike, to resolve a faulty appraisal process that has negatively affected property values and to maintain a federal backstop for housing to keep homeownership affordable.”

Judson has been active in the group's leadership structure at the local, state and national levels. He has served on NAHB’s Board of Directors since 1979 and has been a member of the NAHB Executive Board since 2002. He has twice served as NAHB State Representative from North Carolina and is a two-time NAHB national area chairman representing North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. In 2008, he chaired the NAHB Housing Finance Task Force, which developed association policy relating to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Judson served as 2004 president of the North Carolina Home Builders Association and was named its associate of the year in 1988.

The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units this year.