Celebrating Craftsmanship at the Home Builders Association of NWI Parade of Homes Awards Ceremony 2026

After another year of keeping homeownership in reach for the next generation of buyers, the builders, trade partners and their loved ones packed out Journeyman Distillery on Friday night for the 2026 Parade of Homes Awards, hosted by the Home Builders Association of Northwest Indiana (HBANWI). The award ceremony allowed the association to hang their hats, raise a glass, and celebrate the work they have accomplished and will accomplish in the years to come.

The evening honored the showcase builders from this year’s Spring and Fall Parades of Homes and recognized leadership, activism, and the massive volunteer efforts made by the organization. Most profoundly, the night signaled the end of an era: a presidential handoff within the organization, as current president Zach Garza will pass the torch to his colleague Josh Blackburn come the new year.

Garza, who works in flooring at ICC Floors, said he stepped up because the group needed help, and he had some parting words from his two-year tenure.

“One of my big goals when I got here was that the organization definitely needed to be revitalized, and that was what my first year was really about: stabilizing the organization,” said Garza. “We needed to reinvigorate the membership and the leadership to be able to let us springboard into growth, which is what year two has really been about, and we have seen that. When I started, we had about 100 members; we’re up to over 177.”

“We brought on a lot of excitement and leadership,” Garza said. “That’s what the organization needed — people getting excited to help support the mission here, which is obviously keeping the dream of American home ownership alive and attainable for the next generation.”

With a huge uptick in members comes increased support for that mission, which Garza spoke about candidly.

“It’s something I’m personally passionate about,” said Garza, who has learned invaluable lessons and continued to fuel his passions over the last two years.

“We do a lot of that through legislation. We’ve got people downstate and nationally that are lobbying for us to keep the costs of building down. A lot of regulation increases the cost to the builders, which then translates to me and you,” said Garza.

Garza will stay on the board as past president and remains passionate about the organization’s mission.

The Home Builders Association of Northwest Indiana serves both Lake and Porter counties and brought community members from all over the region under one roof to celebrate yet another successful year of building, fundraising, and making a difference in the lives of the community.

A silent auction and wine pull raised money for Habitat for Humanity Northwest Indiana and Habitat for Humanity of Porter County. Members from Habitat for Humanity offered guests an exciting opportunity to both give back and earn a tax credit along the way, and there were many other opportunities to support the cause throughout the night.

The Parade of Homes lets the public tour newly built homes across Lake and Porter counties. The spring parade featured about 28 homes, according to incoming president Josh Blackburn.

“Whether or not you’re interested in buying, you have the chance to see the modern trends that are out there today,” Blackburn said. “Maybe you’re remodeling your home; it gives you some ideas for that. It’s just an opportunity to get out, explore new areas, and see the homes that are being built out there today.”

The fall parade gathered seven homes at a single site: the Stonebridge subdivision in Jackson Township. It was the first Parade of Homes hosted in Porter County since 2016, said Mike Tezak, the subdivision’s developer and an HBANWI board director.

Tezak, a real estate broker with 120 agents across Northwest Indiana, said the event drew more than 3,000 visitors over 10 days. With home prices upwards of a million dollars and five of the seven homes already sold, the fall parade was a success story worth mentioning.

“This was the first time that a real estate company was the developer and had the marketing sense and the ability to put on a parade,” Tezak said. “In the past, there were bumps in the road. This one actually took off.”

He said the results came despite a soft housing market, as the industry took a hit like any other during a downturn.

“Every 12 to 13 years in real estate, we see a great market, and then we see a year to two years of a down market,” Tezak said. “We’re really in the middle of that down market right now, but we’ve shown success during a down market with this parade.”

Leaders said rising costs are pushing many young buyers out of the market, with builders facing pressure from tariffs and labor shortages, according to Garza.

Tezak, who has two young daughters, said the goal is a realistic path to ownership.

“We leave out the word ‘affordable’ because it’s really hard to do affordable. It’s more ‘attainable,’” Tezak said. “New construction is attainable as long as you know and you have the right direction to do so.”

He said falling mortgage rates could bring more buyers off the sidelines. “Once they get under seven, I think we’ll start to see a little bit more movement,” Tezak said.

Garza also pointed to new residents arriving from Illinois. “We have a lot of people moving from Illinois to escape higher taxes out here,” Garza said.

Still, “there’s just not enough labor to go around,” Garza said of the shortage facing builders.

To offset the looming labor shortages of the future, the HBANWI is working to course correct by engaging the next generation of workers. The association has started donating to Lake and Porter County schools through proceeds from its February Home Expo, and Garza said a broader push to connect students with the trades is in the works.

“We haven’t fully figured that out yet,” Garza said, “but there are a lot of things in the works of bringing in people that are interested in building at a young age, showing that they can make a really good living and a career of being a plumber, an electrician, a framer, whatever it may be, which helps everybody.”

The association has also deepened its partnership with Habitat for Humanity in recent years, with board members volunteering on Habitat builds. “I think that partnership is gonna continue to grow,” Garza said.

With costs increasing and the younger generation being priced out of homeownership, the average age of home buyers in 2026 is in the 40s. The Home Builders Association of Northwest Indiana is fighting every day to fix those numbers. With new developments, projects, and more focus on the mission, the HBANWI is working tirelessly to ensure homeownership in America is never out of reach.

Honorable mention to all the award recipients of the evening: the builders, the tradesmen, and all who work to transform our community, neighborhoods, and towns for the better.

To help support the mission and to see the projects created for the Spring and Fall Parades of Homes, visit https://hbanwi.com/.