Do What Only You Can Do

That we're near the end of a year that feels like it began yesterday astounds me. Along the way, each of us had days that would never end and weeks that flew by. Wrap the long and the short together, and 2002 soon will be but a memory.

In our industry, these past 12 months have been the stuff of both dreams and nightmares. Low mortgage rates and pent-up demand resulted in new home sales rates that have been the one bright spot - as well as the prop - in an economy still struggling to find its way to sustainable health. This stuff of dreams can turn a bit dark around the edges when we get caught up in the "national" picture of the housing industry. What we all know and what almost all the commentators forget is that housing is the most local of businesses.

Getting too focused on the national picture can divert attention from a local market condition that may be very different. For this reason, a comment by Pam Sessions should resonate with all of us. Ask the CEO of Hedgewood Properties, PB's 2003 Builder of the Year, what her goals are for the company, and you'll probably get the same Jerry Garcia quote I did. "Don't worry about being the best of the best. Just do what only you can do."

What a perfect statement to describe the mission and focus of the company that PB's editors believe best demonstrates a successful model for top- and bottom-line growth in home building today. Hedgewood Properties builds in the Atlanta market, where housing has averaged 30,000 starts a year. The company, run by Sessions and her partner and husband, Don Donnelly, isn't a big player in this market when the tally is counted simply in units. In every other measurement, Hedgewood is one of the market - and industry - leaders. The short list follows; the long list - and the ways you can learn from Hedgewood's success - begins here.