RICHARD BOWERS

Career Profile
Senior manager within residential building and development industry. Provides twenty-five years of experience in managing production, development, product design, purchasing and contracting, field operations, sales, and marketing. Experienced in many different jurisdictions in addition to successfully managing virtually every residential product type from basic town homes, to elevator condominiums with structured parking, to award winning single-family luxury homes, and large Active Adult communities.

Professional Experience

Lennar, Virginia, Chantilly, VA June 2008 - January 2009
Director of Construction, Virginia Division

Director of Construction reporting to Division President, managing 12 communities throughout Virginia (several with multiple product lines including large Active Adult communities) and direct reports of 27 field and office associates. Lennar is publicly held and is one of the largest homebuilders in the country. When I arrived, the division was substantially behind the business plan concerning starts and deliveries with only a short window of opportunity to catch up. Although sales goals were not reached, the goal for availability of completed homes was achieved.
Delivered 292 homes in FY 2008, total revenue of $105M, including singles and condominiums.
Directed production, quality, cost control, customer care, and customer satisfaction.
Key goals were: Improve JD Power customer satisfaction scores when compared to other Lennar Divisions, reduce cost of variances for key production expenses, reduce cycle time, improve trade partner performance, reduce warranty and field expenses.
JD Power Customer Satisfaction: Implemented a JD Power initiative designed to provide focus and accountability for JD Power scores. Achieved substantial quarterly improvement for JD Power rankings when comparing Virginia to the other 29 Lennar Divisions nationally. Please keep in mind that these improvements in ranking occurred over very short period of time as the initiative was not implemented until Quarter 3.
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Survey Category
Overall Sales Staff: Quarter 2 Ranking was #27 of 30 Divisions, Quarter 3 improved to #4 of 30 (77% improvement).
Overall Construction Staff: Quarter 2 Ranking was #10 of 30 Divisions, Quarter 3 improved to #4 of 30 (20% improvement).
Overall Satisfaction: Quarter 2 Ranking was #13 of 30 Divisions, Quarter 3 improved to #9 of 30 (13% improvement).

Variance control: As of December 2008, reduced variances by 34% since September.
Reduced cycle time by 15 days for December closings compared to FY 2008.
Introduced initiative to reduce warranty costs, improve customer satisfaction, and be able to manage customer service with fewer associates. Changed program from service on demand to scheduled service.
In order to improve trade partner performance, introduce initiative designed to provide feedback and generate competition between trade partners in order to exceed our expectations. Involved surveying Lennar associates and providing survey results to trade partner senior management.




K. Hovnanian Homes, LLC, Chantilly, VA 1984 June 2008
Vice President Construction, Virginia North Division(2006 June 2008)

Promoted to Vice President reporting to Division President, managing 28 communities and direct reports of 55 field and office associates, based on performance in Active Adult Division. K. Hovnanian is publicly held and is one of the largest homebuilders in the country.
Delivered 427 homes in FY 2007, total revenue of $173M, including singles, towns, and condominiums.
Directed production, quality, cost control, and customer satisfaction.
Key goals were: improve Customer Satisfaction scores, reduce cost of variances for key production expenses, and reduce interest cost of not obtaining funding in same month of settlement.
Customer Satisfaction: Implemented a JD Power initiative designed to provide focus and accountability for Customer Satisfaction scores. Achieved substantial improvement for VA Norths 12 Month Trailing, company-wide ratings for 30 Day Survey for Definitely Yes:

Category
Home Readiness: As of 1/31/07, was #8 of 24 Divisions, as of 2/29/08 improved to #1 of 25 Divisions.
Construction Staff: As of 1/31/07, was #5 of 24 Divisions, as of 2/29/08 improved to #1 of 25 Divisions.
Homeowner Service: As of 1/31/07, was #13 of 24 Divisions, as of 2/29/08 improved to #1 of 25 Divisions.
Would Recommend: As of 1/31/07, was #13 of 24 Divisions, as of 2/29/08 improved to #2 of 25 Divisions.
Sales Process: As of 1/31/07, was #9 of 24 Divisions, as of 2/29/08 improved to #2 of 25 Divisions.

Because of this initiative, my Division ranked number two of 25 nationally in the key K. Hovnanian category of Would You Recommend Your Builder and led the multi-state Landover Group.
Variance control: Reduced key variances by $1,861 per home in FY 07 vs. FY 06. Variance reduction through February 2008 was $1,403 vs. FY 07. Combined reduction was $3,264 per home.
Reduce Interest Cost due to Outstanding Funding at end of Month: Interest cost for FY 06: $538, 807. FY 07: $182,994. Current FY 08: $14,873. Proper planning and consistent scheduling, resulting in earlier-in-the-month deliveries was key.

Community Manager, Active Adult Division (2004 2006)
K. Hovnanian acquired Rocky Gorge Homes in 2004. Appointed to Senior Management position reporting to Division President serving as Division President for specific large communities with tremendous amenities (clubhouse, indoor and outdoor pool, ballroom, exercise room, billiard room, guardhouse, etc.), large model parks, and a substantial on site sales, production, and service staff.
Managed P&L, production, sales, and customer satisfaction. Coordinated land development and homeowner services.
One of my communities was number one in sales for single-family homes in the Washington Metropolitan Region in 2004 and 2005 with sales of $73M and $78M respectively.
Managed Homeowner Association and related clubhouse activities and issues.
Key goals were to improve ability to get out ahead of starts with paved lots, improve substandard quality levels which resulted in low customer satisfaction, improve upon previous poor leadership which resulted in unhappy purchasers, disjointed staff, and substantial employee morale problems, and improve even-flow production which previously resulted in needing to settle almost 20% of the Fiscal Year deliveries in final month (31 single family detached homes in that month at one community).
The following charts the results of changes implemented at two Active Adult communities, Historic Virginia (800 homes) and Vint Hill (100 homes):

DeliveriesFY 2004: 191.
FY 2005: 233. Increase: 42 (+22%). Note: Entire Active Adult Division was 287.

RevenueFY 2004: $69,000,000.
FY 2005: $102,900,000. Increase: $33,900,000 (+ 49%).

Gross ProfitFY 2004: $26,400,000.
FY 2005: $40,200,000. Increase: $13,800,000 (+ 52.3%).

Customer Satisfaction (Combined Most Likely and Definitely Yes Scores)
FY 2004: 85.29%.
FY 2005: 94.94%. Increase: +11.31%

Monthly Variance Reduction (Second half of FY 06 vs. first half): 67%



Result
Active Adult Division named Landover Group Division of Year for FY 05 (Landover Group in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina had 3,444 deliveries worth approximately $1.2B in FY 05). My communities were responsible for over 80% of total number of Divisions deliveries. Result? - worst to first!

Rocky Gorge Homes, LLC (Acquired by K. Hovnanian in 2004), McLean, VA
Vice President Construction1984-2004
20 years of progressive experience at Rocky Gorge Homes, LLC. Achieved documented success in field operations, project management (including marketing and land development), and other industry categories at various organizational levels.
Consistently exceeded corporate goals and objectives, especially that of increasing gross margins.
Managed initiation and development of numerous award winning product lines.
Strong experience in Fairfax County, Prince George's County, Loudoun County, Montgomery County, the City of Rockville, the City of Alexandria, and Prince William County.
Organized complex projects, defined project priorities, and delegated tasks.
Managed multiple projects and multiple jurisdictions concurrently.
Communicated and interacted effectively with individuals at all levels.
Professionally divided large projects into smaller pieces, prioritized goals, and worked under short deadlines without sacrificing creativity.
Computer literate. Strong working knowledge of popular software and can quickly learn new software.
Excel at directing cohesive staff in successful attainment of objectives.
Self-starting, goal-oriented strategist whose confidence, perseverance, and creativity promote success.
Work well in a high-pressure environment.

Education
Bachelor of Business Administration, (BBA)
Averett College, Danville, VA