2009 HBAR PRESIDENT CHRIS CORRADA

V.P. East West Partners

The President's Message:

A Look Back... A Look Forward

 Despite the economic and market conditions, a combination of vision, commitment and hard work on the part of HBAR’s volunteer leaders, professional staff and countless volunteers; led to some very significant HBAR achievements in 2008. The crowning accomplishment was the launch and ongoing execution of a “From Good To Great” initiative that will advance our vision “To Champion Housing and Community”.

Based on Board approval of a wide ranging series of “From Good To Great” recommendations, HBAR has made and will continue to make significant improvements to our governance structures and decision making processes, as well as our
meetings, events, programs and services. Thank you to Immediate Past President Gray Stettinius for his outstanding leadership on this very timely initiative.

As we move into 2009, all indications are that the current market conditions are not likely to improve significantly and may even deteriorate further. As we work together at HBAR to survive in this environment, I am reminded of the words of Sir Winston Churchill during some the darkest days of World War II. Churchill said “In times of great uncertainty … always look for great opportunities.” In the midst of our current uncertainties, one of the greatest opportunities is the long term population forecasts for the Richmond region. These forecasts all indicate a strong and sustained demand for more housing. While questions on exactly where this new housing will be built and exactly what form it will take remain to be answered, the facts remain that the Richmond region will always be a great place to for people to live, work and raise a family.

The real challenge before us as an industry and as an association is to position ourselves to seize this great opportunity. One lesson we have all learned in this downturn is that what has worked so well in the past simply will not work in the future. As an association and as an
industry we need to accept the fact that the world as we knew it has changed forever.

Change is never easy, but it always inevitable. The real key is how we deal with it.

As I begin my journey as 2009 HBAR President, I hope we will all be guided by the words of Leon Martel in the preface of his book “Mastering Change”. Martel writes:

“We live in a world of change, yet we act on the basis of continuity. Change is unfamiliar; it disturbs us. We ignore it, we avoid it; often we try to resist it. Continuity, on the other hand, is familiar; it provides safety and security.” “Thus when we plan for the
future, we prefer to assume present conditions will continue. But they rarely do. As a result we experience unnecessary losses and miss unseen opportunities.”

“To avoid experiencing unnecessary losses and missing unseen opportunities, I propose a new
approach to change. The new approach is to recognize that change is natural and to be
expected, and continuity is unnatural and to be suspected. As we come to understand and use change, we will be better prepared for the future, increasingly able to make tomorrow’s world the world we want.”

In the year ahead, I look forward to working with all of you on the continuing journey to take HBAR “From Good To Great” In working together, I have no doubt that we can and we will meet
Martel’s challenge to under stand and use change in making tomorrow’s world the world we want.