As was announced in a November Daily Business News brief linked here, Danny Ghorbani, President and CEO of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) is retiring. Writing in The Journal, Danny shares a look back and ahead. He thanks Journal publisher Jim Visser, his industry friends, MHARR colleagues and others. His fare-thee-well was done with class.
What is news in his OpEd is the conclusion of his column, where Danny comes out in favor of a manufactured housing industry PR and marketing campaign.
Such a trans-industry effort has long been supported by a number of successful and notable corporate leaders among the ranks of MHI. Professionals like Leigh Abrams, Randy Rowe and Steve Adler are among dozens who have publicly called – thus far, unsuccessfully – for the industry to rally in support of an image campaign that would boost sales.
With so many industry leaders and professionals seeing the clear need for public education and a GoRV type of marketing, why has it not yet happened?
MHARR’s retiring CEO writes, “In my view, manufactured housing is a unique industry, blessed with hard-working men and women who are dedicated to building the most affordable, safe, efficient and state-of-the-art homes for American families – and the time has come for an aggressive campaign to spread the industry’s positive message nationwide.”
What is not stated in Danny Ghorbani’s message on launching an industry image campaign is why he thinks such a campaign may not have worked before, but done properly, ought to be successful now.
He also said, “…MHARR continues to fight unfair discrimination against the industry, its products and manufactured homebuyers, and will never rest in its efforts to protect and advance the rights, interests and views of the industry and its smaller businesses. All along, our guiding principle has been – and continues to be — that regulated industries such as manufactured housing (and their consumers) do not beg for fair treatment, they demand it and fight for it.”
In a revealing moment, MHARR’s President Ghorbani stated, “To those critics, although we may disagree, and the battles have been hard-fought, we have always respected your views and you personally. We may disagree during business hours, but the disagreement is not and never has been personal. Outside of business hours and going forward we all are – and should be – friends.” For those who know Danny’s passion, this is classy indeed and has an echo in Tim Williams, 21st Mortgage CEO and MHI Vice Chairman who thinks the industry should look at itself like a fraternity.
As important as the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (MHIA of 2000) is for manufactured housing, if MHARR’s CEO final call to action achieves the goal of a national image building/PR campaign that boosts new home production, that could be his most important legacy to the industry.
Once more, MHProNews wishes to extend to Danny, incoming president M. Mark Weiss and the members of MHARR best wishes during this historic transition for all involved. ##
Related OpEd column, linked here.
(Photo credit: The Journal of Mfd Housing)
