New Year, New Beginnings

There are no two ways around it: 2020 was a roller-coaster of a year, without the harnesses and lap bars. But now, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Whether you are drawn to the poetic prose of T. S. Eliot: “And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from,” or the succinct, matter-of-fact words of Taylor Swift: “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change,” the sentiment that many of us are feeling is the same. We have seen the last of 2020 and are hopeful 2021 will be different.

That’s not to say we can expect smooth sailing. Has there ever been a year that we could? But for Pro Builder, 2021 offers an extremely promising beginning. This month, we are announcing a formal partnership with the National Association of Home Builders. We’ve worked with NAHB for many years on a variety of initiatives, such as our Show Village at the International Builders’ Show, and in the last few years have expanded our relationship by working together on projects and events such as The New American Home and the Suppliers’ Summit.

Now, we are excited to join forces with NAHB, becoming its Official Media Partner with Pro Builder as its Official Publication, delivering our in-depth coverage of the housing industry to the association’s members and providing our readers with access to the association’s expertise and educational resources. This joint effort will allow us to offer additional perspective to our content, along with a wider range of industry information and insight (see NAHB chairman Chuck Fowke’s letter), to our combined audiences in all of the media platforms served by Pro Builder, Custom Builder, Pro Remodeler, and PRODUCTS, truly a win-win situation.

This month also marks another fortuitous beginning: Rich Binsacca’s tenure as editorial director of Pro Builder, Custom Builder, and PRODUCTS. Rich has served as editor-in-chief of Pro Builder for the past two years, bringing his more than 30 years of experience in the home building industry, encompassing both a stint working in construction in addition to his long and distinguished career in housing-related publishing, to bear on all facets of what we do. Rich’s knowledge and understanding of the industry, his great strength as a writer and editor, along with his facility with digital communication, will lend ever more depth to the information we provide and the ways we provide it. I hope you will join all of us at SGC Horizon in welcoming him to this new role.

This change brings a new beginning for me as well. I am taking on the role of executive editor, a title that loosely translates to “senior editor in charge of particular areas.” In other words, I am still on the job, just in a different capacity. Please feel free to keep in touch; I am happy to assist you in any way I can.