Sylvan Lake home builder wins big

Home is where the heart is they say.

Local Central Albertan business Falcon Homes was recently awarded with some prestigious awards in honour of the homes they built during the fiscal year of 2015.

General Manager of Falcon Homes John Christie was excited for the company to receive this distinction.

“We worked hard all year – we built 95 homes that year,” he said “It shows you that you have been good to your customers, your customers are happy with you and that trades and suppliers been helping you along the way.”

Falcon Homes won the Large Volume Builder of the Year Award, which awards companies who build 25 homes and over. To receive this award, a company must finish as a finalist in at least one category of home – which are separated into different home and price brackets.

Falcon Homes won Renovator of the Year, Safety and Leadership, Builder Member of the Year, Best New multi-Family Home, Best Townhouse/duplex over $225,000 and Best Renovation between 75 and 124 thousand dollars. Christie also took home the personal distinction of the Gus Bakke Memorial Award, which honours service for his time as President of theHomebuilders Association.

Christie credits Falcon’s employees for the awards received.

“Most of our trades and suppliers have been with us for almost 20 years and any new ones we bring in – we make sure they produce quality work and are professional,” he said “That helps us because they know exactly how to build our homes; what we like to see in our homes; and they know what kind of quality we expect to see.

“They also help us with pricing depending on the economy.”

With the Alberta Economy at a unsteady point, Christie is looking for many ways to expand Falcon Home’s business other then just number of homes built.

“With the economy, it can be a little tough, but we are always trying to grow,” he said. “Not necessarily always building more homes, but grow by being on top of the trend and knowing what kind of products are out there to help out customers.”

He added that they always want to get “better at what they do.”

For Christie, the challenge and reward of home building often comes from building in a Central Alberta – which requires multiple perspectives for multiple communities.

“Central Alberta is pretty big,” Christie said. “This means that you have a lot of different communities that you build in and that could mean multiple different styles of home.”

He added that the awards are a huge honour and he is looking forward to continuing to build more homes next year.

Reporter@eckvilleecho.com