The News Of Orange County Article

January 26, 2021

The News Of Orange County Article:

Chad Collins knows what it takes to build something strong and that will last. As the owner of Collins Design-Build, which specializes in custom homes in Orange County North Carolina, he knows you need talented and capable people throughout the building process.

As President of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce for the last couple of years, Collins employed a similar focus on people during his tenure. By filling the Chamber’s Board of Directors with strong business leaders, Collins was able to accomplish a number of intentional changes, and to help the Chamber navigate changes beyond its control, specifically the pandemic.

TV Host & Author Vivian Howard with Chad Collins

“When I joined the board of directors, the make up of the membership was a little bit different than it is now, no disrespect to what it was,” said Collins, who is electing to step away as Board of Directors President this year. “I feel like we’ve made it better, like we have improved upon what was existing.”

Among the Chamber’s accomplishments during Collins’ terms, the organization moved its office to a high-visibility storefront location on Churton Street in Hillsborough. It has increased membership by over 15 percent and has added several major investors that are committed to the growth of the Chamber and the community.

Grand Opening of the new Chamber office on Churton Street

“We built a solid board of directors that embraces our mission statement,” he said. “They’re eager to to engage with our membership and our community. That’s the type of Board of Directors you want.”

Collins is also pleased the Chamber has achieved a group of accomplishments he believes have given it relevancy.

Ribbon Cutting for new business in Hillsborough

“We hired a new CEO. We created a new website, one that will work on mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets. We’ve elevated our social media presence. We just brought everything into relevance.

The increased web and social media presence has been key for the Chamber during the COVID-19 crisis. It has continued to make available information about financial assistance and resources to members, which has benefitted its members this year without having face-to-face functions and networking events.

Business of the Year

“The Chamber, for the first time since I can remember having access to the financial records, is in as strong a financial position as I can remember in my nearly two decades of Chamber membership,” Collins added. “I’m very proud of that. While it’s not about making money to sit in the Chambers bank account, we do need funds to be able to create these programs and environments where people can network and get the most from being a Chamber member.”

Business Grand Opening in Hillsborough

Collins joined the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce in the early 2000’s. While he has been an active leader in his profession — he was Regional Vice President for the North Carolina Homebuilders Association for five years, and then President of the Durham/Orange/Chatham Counties Homebuilders Association for a year — it wasn’t until 2017 that Collins decided it was time to take his commitment with the Chamber to a new level.

New business Ribbon Cutting Event in Downtown Hillsborough

“I embraced this Chamber because this is my hometown,” he said. “We need a strong Chamber. We want a strong Chamber. Rather than fuss about it, get involved yourself. And we have certainly surrounded ourselves with Rockstar business leaders at the Board Room table. My goal was to have a collection of people from a variety of industries. From downtown merchants, attorney, mortgage lender, financial advisor, insurance advisor, all these sectors, so we have a diversity of ideas. This positioning has allowed us to represent all local businesses in the communities in Orange County.

About the Builder:

Chad & Emilee Collins

An unlimited licensed general contractor, as well as, a licensed home inspector, Hillsborough NC custom home builder Chad Collins transforms clients’ dreams into elegant, fashionable, timeless homes while maintaining a reputation for skilled craftsmanship, superior quality, and incomparable client service. Collins Design-Build is consistently ranked by the Triangle Business Journal as one of the top custom home builders in the Triangle.

Chad’s commitment to excellence has earned Collins Design-Build numerous top industry awards, including the National Certified Green Professional Builder of the Year, the Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties Home Builder of the Year, and twice awarded the coveted Triangle Sales and Marketing Council’s MAME Building Company of the Year. Chad is one of fewer than 50 Accredited Master Builders in the state of North Carolina.

From the outset of his career, Chad quickly impressed others with his professionalism, integrity, and astute operations management skills. While in high school and college, Chad worked part time with home improvement retailers and building material suppliers, which opened opportunities to work for regional and national home builders throughout much of the 1990s. Chad capitalized on these experiences with local and regional builders to acquire considerable industry knowledge and to forge strong relationships.

Earlier in his career, Chad served as a team leader to local and regional production home builders, distinguishing him by developing processes, tools, and quality-driven teams that improved ROI, cut annual costs, reduced project completion time, and decreased attrition. As a result, Chad advanced increasingly through management positions. Evidence of his talent for coaching and leading teams is that several of his team members and craftsmen he developed relationships with decades ago continue to work with him to this day.

Following that success, Chad was recruited by a national builder opening operations in the Triangle, and he played an important role in helping the company establish operations with a market presence in the region. His efforts in closing over $6,000,000 in custom homes in a single year earned Chad the 2001 Builder of the Year award.

Chad has earned the highest designations available, such as Accredited Master Builder, Master Certified Green Professional, and Aging-in-Place Specialist. Among other industry recognition’s, Collins Design-Build has earned multiple Best Green Built Home NCHBA STARS Awards, Major Renovation Awards and the rare Parade of Homes GOLD Perfect Score Award.

Prior to being elected as the President of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties, serving over 600 members, Chad was nominated to a five-year term with the North Carolina Home Builders Association as Regional Vice President; serving the largest territory region in the nation. Chad was elected as the Board of Directors President of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce 2019 and 2020 where he led efforts to increase membership by 15% during a pandemic.

Throughout his career, he has served on various boards of directors and has earned numerous top awards for membership recruitment from the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties; the North Carolina Home Builders Association; the National Association of Home Builders; the Triangle Community Coalition; and the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce. In 2018 North Carolina Governor appointed Chad to the North Carolina Home Inspectors Licensing Board as Treasurer.

Chad is honored to be an approved speaker for the National Association of Home Builders. Chad has written and taught several courses on green building, as well as, project management to fellow general contractors across the Southern United States. He has instructed for Duke University’s OLLI Continuing Education Program, serving as the Aging-in-Place Specialist. The North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors recognizes Chad as an approved Continuing Education Instructor.

For more information and how Hillsborough NC Collins Design-Build may serve you please connect with us through the following: