STATE BOARD PRESIDENT LETTER
Leadership in These Times
WHAT A STRANGE FEW MONTHS WE
HAVE ALL EXPERIENCED.
We have gone from hearing about this strange new
virus and how it was shutting down a major Chinese city,
to seeing it expand throughout Europe and eventually
spread across our great nation. We are now fully immersed
in a global pandemic that has altered the way we live and
work for the foreseeable future.
Many of us began March wondering how, if at all,
Covid-19 would affect our late winter ski getaways (a little
insight into what I was worried about!). I never imagined
we would be entering May wondering how the virus will
now affect our summer plans and beyond. The uncertainty
surrounding all future planning has been immense and a lot
to bear for decision makers at all levels.
As politicians rolled out closures of businesses around
the country, many deemed homebuilding to be an essential
function of our economy. Fortunately, when the closures
inevitably made their way to Massachusetts, Governor
Charlie Baker agreed that the production of housing and all
the functions that go along with the production of housing
were essential not just to our economy but to our society.
The Baker administration has always been a great ally to our
industry, and his commitment to housing production has
become obvious over the past six weeks.
As groups have popped up around the Commonwealth
pressuring the administration to shutter all construction
activity, our governor has remained strong in his
commitment to the homebuilding industry. His
clarifications to essential worker orders have made it clear
to all that the Commonwealth understands how important
housing is. Homes provide many of us with so much more
than just shelter; they provide us all with a place to retreat
to at the end of the day and a place in which to gather with
loved ones to make life-lasting memories. We are fortunate
to be able to continue providing the production of new
homes to our communities.
With the governor’s commitment to housing, we as an
industry should feel a sense of responsibility to ensure we are
operating in a safe manner. We all must continue to educate
our workforce on how to safely navigate construction during
the pandemic. There are many simple steps we can all take to
mitigate our employees’ and customers’ risk of exposure. The
National Association of Home Builders has done a great job
of providing guidance on job site safety and this information
can be easily accessed at www.nahb.com.
It is my hope that in the coming months we are able to
start returning to the “normal” we all once knew, but until
that happens we must remain vigilant in our commitment
to safely building the homes our communities require.
Please do your best to educate your employees, subs,
vendors, and homeowners on the changes to how projects
will be executed. If we all focus and remain committed
to site safety, we should continue to operate successfully
within our communities.
Matt Anderson
President
Home Builders and Remodelers Association
of Massachusetts
AT HOME ON CAPE COD • SPRING/SUMMER 2020 13
/www.nahb.com