Neal Communities team sees substantial growth in early 2016

Neal Communities (NealCommunities.com), southwest Florida’s premier, private homebuilder, hired 26 new employees across the company’s departments in January and February 2016.

The new hires include 10 sales associates, four builders, three pool builders, a design gallery coordinator and a vice president of construction.

“Our firm would be nothing without its dedicated team of professionals all working toward a common goal of improving people’s lives,” said Pat Neal, founder and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch based new home building company. “As we expand into new markets and new communities over the next five years, we will continue to experience this type of positive and fast paced job growth that contributes to the regions we serve. We are always looking for great people to join our team.”

The new sales associates are Gary Brown, Steven Goodwin, Shana Kohl, Darice Levasseur, Nicolas Morese, Katherine Schrum, David Smith, James Thrift, Richard Witt and Joseph Reuth. Michael Lerman was hired as an online sales counselor.

Mark Jenkins, Brandon Johnson and Jason Carr were hired as builders, and Simon Johns was hired as a builder for Neal’s south region. Fadi Malaab and Owen Mathews joined the Neal team as pool builders, and James Cotton was hired as a pool builder assistant. Robert LaGasse was hired as a pool designer.

Tracie Hunt, Marjory McGloin and Janet Draper joined Neal Communities as purchasing coordinators. Hunt is on the corporate purchasing team, McGloin is on the Neal Signature Homes purchasing team and Draper is on the Waterscapes Pools & Spas purchasing team.

New additions were also made to Neal’s administrative and management team, including office administrator Carol Flowers, design gallery coordinator Stephanie Moreau-Sipiere and senior human resources generalist Sarah Downes.

Construction-industry veteran Timothy Oak was hired as Neal’s vice president of construction in its South Florida division.

Neal Communities also had an exceptional hiring period in the fall, bringing 22 employees onto the Neal team during the last four months of 2015. The homebuilder currently employs 252 people across all of its companies. The company experienced a 6-percent growth since the same time last year.

About Neal Communities

Neal Communities was named the Professional Builder 2015 “Builder of the Year” and was named one of 2012’s “America’s Best Builders” by BUILDER Magazine and voted the “2013 Best Residential Builder in Southwest Florida” in a readers’ poll sponsored by Gulfshore Business Magazine. The company is ranked No. 1 locally by Metrostudy and by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence based on number of home sales and ranked nationally among the top 50 builders by BUILDER Magazine. To date, Neal has built over 10,000 homes in southwest Florida. As the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, Neal Communities is continually striving for excellence in every aspect of the home building and development business. Neal Signature Homes, Neal Land Ventures, Charlene Neal PureStyle, Waterscapes Pools & Spas, Neal Communities Funding, Fiducia Insurance and Allegiant Title Professionals all contribute to the firm’s continued, record-setting local success. The company’s honors and accolades include 44 Parade of Homes 2015 awards, 50 Aurora Awards, 5 Best in American Living Awards and hundreds of local and regional industry awards. For more information, please visit www.NealCommunities.com.

February sales increase for Neal Communities

Neal Communities (NealCommunities.com), southwest Florida’s premier, private homebuilder, saw a steady increase in sales in February, marking 103 new home sales and a more than 10 percent increase over the builder’s 85 new home sales in January.

Homes sales took place in communities spanning from Hillsborough to Collier Counties.

“We definitely experienced a slower January in terms of homes sales and a noticeable uptick in February, but traffic remained steady throughout the first two months of the year,” said Michael Storey, president of the Lakewood Ranch-based new homebuilder. “While it seems the traditional season may have started later this year, we are now seeing traffic and sales back to a more normal rate, and we expect a strong selling season in March and April.”

In February, Grand Palm and Villages of Milano, both in Venice, led with 17 sales. Six homes were sold at the popular Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in Englewood and at Eagle Trace in Manatee County. Other notable communities included Silverleaf and Central Park, each with five sales.

Neal Communities Fairfield, a vacation-style living community located in the heart of Bradenton, has completely sold out. The homebuilder’s Central Park has only nine homes left before sell out and Forest Creek is expected to sell out before summer 2016.

Also in February, Neal Communities brought home 25 awards in the

2016 Manatee Sarasota Building Industry Association’s Parade of Homes. The homebuilders’ pool company, Waterscapes Pools and Spas, also won three awards.

This month, the builder is taking part in the Tampa Bay Builders Association Parade of Homes, from March 5 through March 13, with five models entered.

In 2015, Neal Communities hit a major milestone by closing 989 homes for families in Florida – the most since its 1970 inception and pulled permits for over 1,200 homes in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Additionally the prolific firm was recognized nationally as Professional Builder Magazine’s Builder of the Year.

About Neal Communities

Neal Communities was named the Professional Builder 2015 “Builder of the Year” and was named one of 2012’s “America’s Best Builders” by BUILDER Magazine and voted the “2013 Best Residential Builder in Southwest Florida” in a readers’ poll sponsored by Gulfshore Business Magazine. The company is ranked No. 1 locally by Metrostudy and by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence based on number of home sales and ranked nationally among the top 50 builders by BUILDER Magazine. To date, Neal has built over 10,000 homes in southwest Florida. As the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, Neal Communities is continually striving for excellence in every aspect of the home building and development business. Neal Signature Homes, Neal Land Ventures, Charlene Neal PureStyle, Waterscapes Pools & Spas, Neal Communities Funding, Fiducia Insurance and Allegiant Title Professionals all contribute to the firm’s continued, record-setting local success. The company’s honors and accolades include 44 Parade of Homes 2015 awards, 50 Aurora Awards, 5 Best in American Living Awards and hundreds of local and regional industry awards. For more information, please visit www.NealCommunities.com.

Off-Roading with Neal

BY JACOB OGLES   |   SRQ MAGAZINE   |   MARCH 2016

2015 turned out to be a record-breaking year for Neal Communities, with the company selling some 1,107 homes in the region from Hillsborough south through Collier counties. That’s just another feather in the cap for founder Pat Neal, an ex-state senator and major political player in the region as well.

Good Luck Jeep In 1972 when I was a kid, I got a 1969 or ’70 Jaguar, and I immediately drove it into a sand pit off 34th Street; the first thing I did was bend the steering rod on a rock. It was a great Jaguar, but I knew then I needed a Jeep. I still have my 2003 “Good Luck Jeep.” It’s been through some hardships, including a collision with a backhoe, my one accident in my life. I was at Forest Creek in 2005 trying to get across a muddy spot, so I revved it up, got it up to 25 or 30 miles per hour and didn’t perceive there was something in the wet spot besides water. There was a trench, and it knocked the front of my Jeep off to one side.

David Behr I have followed Father Behr for years. He has a Bible interpretation every week, and when I read a Bible passage, I make sure to find out how he reads it. There is a huge amount of difference between the King James, the New International Version, etc. There are different ways to read the Bible. He just sends me and six other people his interpretations.

Click here to read more.