FLORIDA BUILDER ELECTED TO LEADERSHIP OF NAHB

Barry Rutenberg, a Gainesville, Fla.-based home builder with more than 30 years of experience in the building industry, was elected as the 2009 Third Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) during the association's International Builders' Show in Las Vegas.

Rutenberg is president of Barry Rutenberg and Associates, Inc. in Gainesville. His firm has developed more than a dozen communities and 1,000 homes in the Gainesville area.

"NAHB is looking forward to working with the Obama Administration and the nation's lawmakers to address the foreclosure crisis that is hurting so many families," Rutenberg said. "We need to stabilize housing prices, revitalize the home building industry and restore confidence in the American economy."

Rutenberg has been active in the NAHB leadership structure at the local, state and national levels throughout his career. He has served on NAHB's Board of Directors since 1980 and served on more than 20 NAHB committees and councils. He has served as an NAHB national vice president representing Florida and Puerto Rico three different times - 1994-1995, 2001-2002 and 2007-2008.

Rutenberg has also served as chairman of NAHB's Building Materials Task Force, and in that role he has testified before the International Trade Commission and committees of the U.S. Senate and the Canadian House of Commons.

A third-generation home builder, Rutenberg served as the 2000 president of the Florida Home Builders Association. He also served as the 1978 president of the Builders Association of North Central Florida, the local association representing home builders in the Gainesville area.

He was selected by his peers as Florida Builder of the Year in 1994, and as the Gainesville Builder of the Year in 1982, 1993 and 1998. In 2007 Rutenberg joined his father, Arthur Rutenberg, as an inductee in the Florida Housing Hall of Fame. Arthur Rutenberg was inducted in 1996, and when Barry joined him in 2007 they became the first father-son team in the Florida Housing Hall of Fame.

Rutenberg said he believes NAHB must be receptive to new ideas during this challenging time.

"Just as there is change in Washington in 2009, there will be change at NAHB in the years ahead," he said. "We have to work harder and smarter to meet our members' needs. We must be there for them in Washington, and we must support our members' efforts at the state and local levels."

Rutenberg is involved in a wide range of philanthropic and civic organizations in Florida. He serves on the Board of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Conservation Trust for Florida and on the Issues Advisory Board of Florida Defenders of the Environment.

Rutenberg graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970 and earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree from Harvard in 1972.

NAHB's newly elected senior officers serve on a multi-year leadership ladder. Rutenberg will become chairman of NAHB's Board of Directors in 2012.