Four area businessmen inducted into Builders League of South Jersey Hall of Fame

Jan. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- CHERRY HILL, N.J. – Honoring their commitment to the preservation of the home building industry in southern New Jersey, four area businessmen were inducted into the Builders League of South Jersey Hall of Fame at a dinner at The Mansion on Main Street in Voorhees on Jan. 19.

Established in 2005, the Builders League Hall of Fame recognizes those members and former members of the association for their service and commitment to the League and the home building industry. The seventh group of inductees include past presidents Michael Karmatz of Bala Cynwyd, Pa and James McAleer of Haddonfield, Jerry Silvi of First Colonial National Bank in Haddonfield and Steve Shriver of Consulting Engineer Services in Sewell.

Karmatz, who recently retired from Orleans Homesbuilders Inc. in Bensalem, has led the housing industry in New Jersey for 35 years years. He helped the Builders League form an Action Committee some 30 years ago to regularly address critical housing industry issues and public affairs to the entire member. That committee has met every month since its inception.  He served as Builders League president in 2004 and the New Jersey Builders Association president in 2009.

Throughout the years, Karmatz participated on numerous industry-wide committees, including municipal committees, the Community Development Task Force, and the League’s Smart Growth Committee, and Camden Action Committee, which worked with city leaders in 2003 to develop a strategy for the redevelopment of South Camden. He has served on the League’s Scholarship Foundation, which has distributed more than $111,000 to area students since 1995.

During his presidency Karmatz developed an regional elementary school reading program called “Billy the Bear Builds a House”, which showcased the different industries that make up the housing industry and the importance of math and reading skills. The program was offered free to schools in southern New Jersey.

McAleer, a member of the Builders League for 29 years, served as the association’s president in 1990. With his expertise in marketing, events planning and association services, , he helped the League expand its membership by serving on the Board of Directors and the League’s public affairs, regulatory action,  sales and marketing and Living Green Home Expo committees.  He worked on national housing issues as a member of the National Association of Homebuilders Sales and Marketing Council and Institute for Residential Marketing. McAleer is currently working in the solar energy field.

Shriver, a resident of Washington Township in Gloucester County, has a long history of service to the construction industry. He actively participates in public affairs and regulatory issues with his involvement on numerous association committees and the South Jersey Builders Political Action Committee. He was an integral part of the development of the League’s Smart Growth Committee and is currently a member of both the BLSJ Board of Directors and the NJBA Board of Directors.

Silvi, a resident of Cherry Hill, honed his business acumen in the industry by representing all subcontractors on the local and state levels since joining the association in 1993. He served as vice president of associate affairs for both the Builders League and the NJBA and is currently a member of the League’s Executive Committee, serving as treasurer.

He was instrumental in creating the League’s Commitment to Excellence Awards program, which annually recognizes area homebuilders that demonstrate outstanding customer service and quality as perceived by home buyers. The awards are based on the results of a survey mailed annually to new home buyers in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May counties. The survey gauges the home builder’s quality of workmanship, customer relations, service after the sales and total customer satisfaction. It provides valuable feedback to builder members who are interested in monitoring and upgrading customer service and quality service. Silvi continues to serve as chairman of the awards program.

Silvi has been an active fundraiser for the League’s Charitable Foundation, which works to serve housing related civic and charitable causes in southern New Jersey, and the South Jersey Builders Political Action Committee. Last year the Charitable Foundation hosted its second-annual Run for Our Troops, which benefit Homes for Our Troops, a non-profit organization that builds specially-designed or rehabilitated homes for physically disabled veterans.

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The Builders League of South Jersey is a housing industry trade association of builders, developers, remodelers, suppliers, subcontractors, lenders, consulting professionals and others involved in the construction of new homes in southern New Jersey. For more information about the association, visit www.blsj.com.