2022 Builder Next 100 Biggest Movers: New Tradition Homes
Vancouver, Washington–based New Tradition Homes, founded in 1987 by the Helmes family, was recognized as Biggest Mover on the 2022 Builder Next 100, jumping to No. 147 from no. 190 on the 2021 list.
Operating in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Oregon-Washington metro area, New Tradition Homes focuses on delivering energy-efficient and innovative homes. Each home from the builder is Energy Star Certified and comes with a HERS home energy rating score. In May, New Tradition Homes received an Energy Star Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the Department of Energy and US Environmental Protection Agency for five years of sustained excellence.
The builder, named to demonstrate the combined excitement of building new lives, new memories, and new traditions in a new home, closed 346 new homes—311 single-family, detached homes and 35 townhomes/duplexes—in 2021 while also increasing staffing levels . The firm’s 2021 closings represent an increase of 139 compared with the year prior. Gross revenue for the builder increased from $102 million in 2020 to $170 million in 2021. Vice president Kelly Helmes says the dedication of the New Tradition Homes team and the commitment to solving challenges and overcoming obstacles aided the builder’s growth during an unprecedented 2021.
“Some of the successes of 2021 were due to work that started in the years prior, [including] Improvements to home design efficiency, an effective online marketing and home-buying process, dependable internal systems and processes, and commitment to schedule,” Helmes says. “In 2021—and before—having strong, dependable relationships with our trade partners and supplies ensured that we could get close to our production goals.”
Helmes says the numerous challenges in 2021, including supply chain issues and inflation, reinforced the company’s commitment to continually improve its systems, processes, and end-product homes.
“We were able to achieve the goals for the year by having a team focus on improving efficiency, from the land development, home design, and selling processes, through construction and warranty,” says Helmes.
Looking ahead, Helmes says the company hopes to recapture some of the preconstruction and construction cycle time lost in 2021 due to material shortages and delays while enhancing the customer experience by improving the plans and options to personalize homes.
“We will continue our long-history of pre-sold homes that are energy-efficient, designed to the buyers preferences, and built to high standards,” Helmes says. “Our portfolio of homes, options, and communities allows us to shift to changes in our current marketplace, and explore a variety of other markets.”
The full lists of the top 100 and Next 100 firms ranked by 2020 closings are available for viewing on the BUILDER website; click here for a downloadable PDF.