2009 International Builders’ Show hits Las Vegas

When the 2009 International Builders’ Show gets into full swing at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev. on Jan. 20 to Jan. 23, the people in attendance will be looking for news ways and ideas to keep their businesses going strong in an otherwise dreary market.

“I don’t think we can afford not to go,” says Tom Swartz, owner of J.J. Swartz Construction Co. in Decatur, Ill.
According to Meg Meyer, vice president of IBS and education marketing for Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Home Builders, this year’s show will open with an inspiring speech from former Notre Dame football coach and current ESPN  broadcaster Lou Holtz. The momentum will continue through several exhibits, classes and seminars that will help home builders navigate the current housing market.

In addition to having land plan review workshops for home builders and workshops from the American Institute of Architects, the show has also lowered the cost of seeing the exhibits. For NAHB members, an education seminar costs $50, and $70 for non-members. Ticket packages are also available. For five education seminar tickets, the cost is $200 for members and $280 for non-members. For 10 education seminar tickets, the cost is $350 for members and $490 for non-members.

The show also offers a free exhibit named “New America Home.” While the show is free, Meyer warns to plan ahead. “They do have to get tickets for it,” she says.    

For Swartz, the International Builders’ Show is a place to gather new ideas and network. Although he has been in the residential construction business for nearly 40 years and has only missed the Builders’ show twice in 30 years, Swartz says the show is place where he goes to stay current on trends, as well as continue learning about the industry. “From my standpoint, I want to stay on the cutting edge,” he says. “I’ve marked off twelve classes, all about marketing. I want to stimulate our company and think outside the box about marketing.”

But seasoned business owners of the residential construction industry aren’t the only ones who are searching for new ideas at the show. People relatively new to the business are going as well.

Last year, Angie Browndyke, a member of NAHB for about a month, started her own home building business in West Harrison, Ind. Although she’s been in the home building business for eight years, she’s trying to find her place in the market and believes a little “green” ingenuity would be the perfect thing to help her find a niche. “I know that the area I build in won’t support full green house, like a LEED house,” she explains. “So I’m basically looking to put together packages for my company with different levels of green-ness…I need to educate myself.”

Browndyke will be trying to broaden her knowledge of the industry as well. “The RPS designations, the residential construction superintendent classes,” she says. “I’m going to hit as many courses that I can and seminars throughout the convention.”

Still, the importance of the show to home builders is more than knowing what’s happening in the industry. It also means giving home builders new ideas that may help save a flagging economy. “Housing has always led our nation out of a recession,” says Swartz.