ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Greg Ugalde, a Connecticut-based builder and developer with more than 25 years of experience in the home building industry, was elected as the 2018 first vice chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) during the association’s International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla.

Ugalde is president and chief legal officer of Torrington-based T&M Building Co., Inc., one of the largest home builders in the state. Since its founding in 1962, T&M has built more than 3,500 new homes in over 40 Connecticut communities. He is also the founder and owner of GFU Investments LLC, a builder/developer minority-owned business that focuses on urban development.

“Our focus this year is to ensure that housing and homeownership remain a national priority,” said Ugalde. “NAHB will work with Congress to advance comprehensive housing finance reform and reduce burdensome regulations in order to put families in homes, create jobs and move the economy forward.”

Ugalde has been active in the NAHB leadership structure at the local, state and national levels throughout his career. A life director, he has served on the NAHB Board of Directors for 15 years and has been a member of the NAHB Executive Board for the past decade.

He has also served on eight NAHB committees, was a member of several NAHB task force groups, served as the vice chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee and was chairman of Build-PAC and three other committees. From 2006-2010, he served as the NAHB State Representative from Connecticut. He was the Moderator of the State Representatives in 2010 and in 2011 and 2012 he was elected as the National Area Chairman for his region.

From 2003-2005, Ugalde was the president of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut (HBRA), was named local and state 2000 Builder of the Year, has served on the HBRA board since 1999 and been a member of its executive committee since 2000. He is a three-time recipient of the HBRA Distinguished Service Awards, and served as chairman of the Connecticut Developers Council from 1997-2004. Ugalde received the state home building industry’s highest honor, the Charles J. LoDolce Award, in 2011.

An effective advocate and spokesperson on a broad range of housing issues, Ugalde has served on the HOMEConnecticut Steering Committee, the National Land Use Attorneys Network, the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing and the Town of Burlington’s IWWC and Parks & Recreation Commission. In 1998 he received the Hartford Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Award.

Community involvement is important to Ugalde. He has served as president of the Avon-Canton-Farmington Youth Hockey Association. A certified coach in hockey and little league, he has coached more than 20 teams. He served on the Westminster School Board of Trustees and is an accomplished member of the American, Connecticut and Massachusetts bar associations.

Ugalde resides in Burlington with his wife, Mary-Jane, and their four children.

NAHB’s newly elected senior officers serve on a multi-leadership ladder. Ugalde will become chairman of NAHB’s Board of Directors in 2019.

About NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 700 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for this year.