Madam President

TERI MCGINNIS
President,
Tampa Bay Builders Association

Family: Husband Jon, daughter Amy.
Age: "We're both on the other side of the 50-yard line."
Lives in: Temple Terrace.
Hobbies: Swimming, snow skiing, softball, working out.
Charities: Fund raisers for foster children through the Riding Club.
She can't live without: "My Z3 Beamer."

Fifteen years ago, when Teri McGinnis was hired to work as a part-time community representative for a local developer, she couldn't have known where it would lead-or how far.

Now, McGinnis has just been sworn in as president of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, only the second woman to have ever held the post. Ironically, the first was Brenda Conkle, now marketing director at Newland Communities, who hired her for that part-time job back in 1990.

Suffice it to say, McGinnis hasn't worked part-time hours in quite some time. And today she's busier than ever, between her TBBA presidency and her job as marketing director for Crown Community Development.

But those who know McGinnis well agree that she can handle the challenge of juggling a demanding career with the responsibility of heading up one of the state's largest trade associations.

"She's got an incredible amount of energy," says McGinnis's good friend and longtime colleague, Sharon Donofrio, marketing director for Windward Homes.

Born in Texas, McGinnis was an army brat who lived all over the country before attending Long Island University to study marketing.

"I moved to Florida on a whim," she recalls. "When I got here, I said, 'I've got to live here!'"

She began working as an apartment leasing agent before being promoted to complex manager, then to marketing manager.

When her daughter, Amy, was born, McGinnis took that fateful part-time gig at Hunters Green, where her job was to answer visitors' questions about the development and its model homes.

It proved to be a turning point in McGinnis's life. She was given a membership to TBBA and was required to attend the meetings. Her boss, John Blakley, took McGinnis and Donofrio, who had by then also joined the staff, under his wing, training them to take leadership positions.

"He pushed us to raise the bar," McGinnis says of Blakley. "He made us talk in front of a group of people and then he'd critique us. He made us volunteer for everything."

McGinnis plunged right into association activities. She became president of the Sales and Marketing Council and chaired and co-chaired the Parade of Homes.

Meanwhile, Hunters Green sold out, and McGinnis and Donofrio went to work nearby for Blakley at Arbor Greene. When that community sold out five years later, McGinnis headed straight to Seven Oaks, Crown Community Development's big Pasco County project.

Those who are close to McGinnis say that she'll be make a terrific-and creative-spokesperson for the building industry. In fact, Donofrio jokes that while many people are afraid of the spotlight, McGinnis is so comfortable in it that she has to be dragged offstage.

For example, Donofrio says, she and McGinnis were in charge of the Arbor Green booth at the annual Realtor Builder Expo. They chose a horse theme, staffing their booth with reps dressed as jockeys and inviting passers-by to participate in a horse racing game.

But that wasn't enough. The duo decided to dress as a horse, with McGinnis gamely volunteering for the rear end. As "Fleabiscuit," they plodded along the expo floor, leading attendees to their booth.

"Everyone said, 'That's got to be Sharon and Teri in there'," recalls Donofrio.

Adds McGinnis: "When you're in a lineup of 57 developers and you're trying to set yourself apart, you have to go outside the box. Sometimes, people are afraid of taking that wild side step."

A sense of humor is something the ebullient McGinnis clearly possesses. But while she affirms that life should always be fun, she's deeply serious about the necessity for hard work.

And that work ethic doesn't end when she gets home, where her husband, her daughter, her mother-in-law, four dogs, two cats, birds, fish and a horse await. By mid-morning on a weekend, McGinnis has usually been up for hours and already mucked out the stable.

"She's dynamic, personable, enthusiastic, creative-all the neat superlatives," says Joseph Narkiewicz, executive vice president of TBBA, who has known McGinnis for 13 years. "She's decisive and has the ability to look long-range."

As president of the local association and a director at both the state and national levels, McGinnis will be active in setting policy and lobbying politicians in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. for builders' concerns.

She's interested in issues related to growth, such as schools, concurrency and transportation, and in changing the public's perception of builders and developers. Too often, she says, the media portrays developers as being responsible for growth-related problems and disinterested in seeking solutions.

For example, the idea that developers are opposed to raising impact fees for schools and roads is wrong, McGinnis believes. She says the industry understands the necessity of raising impact fees, but at the same time insists on governmental accountability on how the amounts are calculated and the funds spent.

McGinnis is mindful of being only the second woman to be the president of an association representing a traditionally male-dominated field. But she notes that more and more women are becoming builders-and she's glad to welcome them into the ranks.

"You can be a member of an organization, but you only get out of it what you put into it," McGinnis says. "The Tampa Bay Builders Association has led to some phenomenal business contacts and great friends.

"And then," she adds with a hearty laugh, "there's that spotlight thing."