By Ted McIntyre
Former president steps into the void to help steer OHBA
Even before the Ontario Home Builders’ Association experienced a leadership transition last summer, there were challenges to address. Structural decisions had to be made, housing policies advocated for, relationships forged. OHBA needed someone to step in on an interim basis who was comfortable in the heat. Very comfortable.
And so the association turned to Neil Rodgers, a former OHBA president and long-time member—someone whose loyalty could be tapped and whose résumé checked all the boxes, having previously served as president of development firm Collecdev, executive vice-president of land acquisitions at Tribute Communities, and president of the Urban Development Institute of Ontario, where he was the co-architect of the merger of GTHBA and UDI/Ontario that formed BILD in 2006.
“Neil was the perfect fit,” says OHBA President Dave Depencier, one of several insiders who asked Rodgers last September if he would consider the Interim CEO role. “Neil is well versed in government relations and has a great reputation in that space. He’s also very familiar with OHBA staff and the inner workings of the association. He has the motivation and the passion to navigate and guide OHBA through this transition period. And with him being a past president of OHBA, it was just icing on the cake. It’s seriously an honour to work alongside him.”
As a presidential appointee on OHBA’s 2022 Board of Directors, Rodgers was aware of the hurdles facing the association during the transition period, and he couldn’t turn his back. “It was the board member, the past president, the association volunteer in me and someone who’s very passionate about this industry,” he says. “It was important that the industry and the association not lose a beat regarding issues affecting our members. We have some incredible executive committee and board members who also have their own jobs to tend to. But running the day-to-day affairs of the association is a full-time business.
“The early conversations with President Dave were about restoring stability to the organization, from staffing to the financial long-term sustainability of the association and restoring the OHBA’s reputation in the sector. The industry in general has taken some significant hits with the media, the public and elected officials,” Rodgers says. “There are a lot of things that require some time and attention. My job here is to help clean those things up and make the association and this position as attractive as possible for the next CEO.”
THREE-PHASE APPROACH
Step one last autumn was to address concerns voiced by BILD concerning its relationship with OHBA whose experience no doubt spoke to BILD leadership. The focus of the conversation was greater collaboration and effectiveness, reducing duplication of services and delivering member value. “Their opinion counts very heavily with people in government at the provincial level. We don’t have a choice in this business but to be highly coordinated and compatible in responding to government legislation with a united policy message.”
Rodgers says the BILD agreement felt “in some ways like a redo” of the merger he helped force nearly two decades ago. “It was an affirmation of why working together is so important.”
Step two for Rodgers and OHBA “is to add bench strength to our policy and government relations team.” While OHBA has been working with a third-party GR team, Counsel Public Affairs, Rodgers says his association “needs to bring some people in-house.”
Step three of the three-phase plan will require a buy-in—figuratively and literally—from membership. “We need to consider a new modernized fee model,” Rodgers says plainly.
Simply put, OHBA is underfunded by members with respect to advocacy, government relations, research efforts and campaigns. While a critical duty of most industry associations is to influence government to avoid adverse policy and legislation, promote legislation that may enhance member activities, and educate elected officials and the public, OHBA has long operated on a budget that is not commensurate with its contribution to the Ontario economy, Rodgers says.
“We are at a watershed moment in the history of OHBA if we are to step up and advocate with strength to the government,” he says. “For OHBA to communicate its members’ interests on a multitude of policy files, we need more horsepower. So we’re going to spend this winter/spring identifying options for the membership to consider. This will involve very open communication with our board and our members across all our locals, being sensitive to the diversity of our membership base. We have small, medium and large builder-developers, and we have renovators, suppliers and manufacturers. It cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach.”
If OHBA is going to be in a fair fight when it comes to advocating for its members, it needs to ratchet up its evidence-based approach, Rodgers says. “If all you do is talk to government, but you don’t have information and research that supports your arguments, you’re sometimes not taken seriously. I’m a strong believer in evidence-based research and information. It helps distinguish fact from fiction. It helps scope the argument and makes you look more informed and intelligent relative to how some of your peers may approach the conversation.”
THE VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP
It’s instinctual for many to ask, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ But OHBA has been part of multiple decisions that have saved its members megabucks. “We just identified an issue with municipal utility locates,” Rodgers notes. “With every jobsite, you have to call in the locates and understand where the utilities—sewer, water, cable, natural gas, etc. are. OHBA and other like-minded contractor and builder associations said we cannot live with a regime that would charge for this—it’s not something that has ever been in place. And we won the day. Legislation was introduced in November that would codify that utility providers cannot charge for locates. That could save a builder-developer thousands—maybe tens of thousands of dollars—a year. And look at OHBA’s work in keeping construction going during the pandemic. I can’t even calculate what that would have cost—even for a single day”. These are the kinds of efforts OHBA provides to members regularly. And if we don’t have the resources to be in that arena or at those tables, that’s a vital missed opportunity for our members. Whatever the fee increase proves to be, it will provide a significant return on investment over the life of your membership in the association.
“And I’ve made it clear to the executive that every additional dollar we can potentially ask for will be devoted to government relations advocacy and research,” Rodgers assures. “This is not about enriching aspects of the organization—this is solely focused on our ability to be a better communicator and advocate for our members at Queens Park.”
As for Rodgers’ personal calendar, he says he’s not looking for a full-time engagement and hopes to have all three phases completed within a calendar year of when he stepped into the Interim CEO role. “If I were a potential candidate for this job, I’d probably not want it right now,” he says. “I think most people would like to see added stability before they apply. I’ve committed to Dave and the executive to stay until September. I don’t want to cut out on Dave partway through his presidency. We communicate almost daily and we are pretty simpatico in terms of our ideology on approaching issues. But I’ve also said, ‘If you find the right person tomorrow and they’re ready to take this on, don’t let me get in the way. Hire the best. The members and association deserve it.’”
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