John Todd, CGR, CAPS, CGP, Awarded Certified Graduate Remodeler Designee
John M. Todd, owner of Elite Remodeling, believes in education from the top down. His Elite team collectively holds 14 certifications. John invests in his staff; their professional development is a priority to him, and in turn the 50 plus clients he serves each year reap the benefits.
In November 2004, Mr. Todd acquired Elite Remodeling. He then re-engineered Elite from a discount remodeler to a full service value added remodeler. Elite has also retooled its Showroom and Design Center from a tile shop into a state-of-the-art facility with full kitchens, bathrooms and a variety of custom cabinetry. Elite’s primary projects consist of remodeling kitchens, bathrooms and room additions.
Mr. Todd and his team are active in various local organizations. In fact, he joined the Dallas Builders Association prior to completing the acquisition of Elite. Currently, he is an Honored Life Director of the Dallas BA and has previously served as chairman of the Remodelers Council, the Education Committee and the ARC Committee. Mr. Todd has been a member of the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers Board of Trustees since 2017. Elite is also active in the National Kitchen and Bath Association, where Mr. Todd has chaired the Builder Remodeler Advisory Committee and served on the Finance Committee. Elite is committed to education and, as such every member of the Elite team has at least one NAHB accreditation.
Elite Remodeling has been selected as Remodeler of the Year in the Association’s ARC Awards in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2016. Mr. Todd was the recipient of the 2018 Hugh Prather Award. The award was named for the Association’s first president, Hugh Prather, in hopes that his principles would serve as a guide for future generations of builders. It is not meant to be simply a “Builder or Remodeler of the Year,” but something more that reflects credit to the building industry and is the highest honor bestowed by the Association.
Mr. Todd spent a number of years within the telecom and software industries holding executive level positions with IBM, MCI, and Sprint. Mr. Todd spent six years with the U.S. Army attaining the rank of Captain. He holds a BS degree in economics from Missouri State University. Mr. Todd and his wife DeDe reside in Gunter, where they enjoy golf and travel when they’re not building a client’s dream project.
How do you market your certifications? We include them on each of our marketing pieces. Our website, business cards, email signature blocks, newsletters and downloadable documents from our website. We use the phrase that Elite is the only North Dallas remodeler who has certified remodelers, certified designers and Aging-in-Place Specialists ON BOARD.
What does your certification add to your business? Credibility. It demonstrates that we are not just a “Chuck in the truck” contractor, but one who values education and improving ourselves across the board.
How do your customers respond to your certifications? They generally ask what’s the alphabet soup mean? That gives our team a great opportunity to discuss education and its importance to our business.
Why did you select this certification? NAHB has 140,000 members; carrying a national certification helps separate you from the field. The process of the Professional Remodeler Experience Profile (PREP) examination along with the classes and the networking, really grew my professional skills and also my business. Every team member on staff has at least one professional designation. In total we hold17 professional designation across NAHB, NARI, NKBA and the EPA.
Do you volunteer or have civic duties? Philanthropy? Absolutely, we give back in a couple ways. First, we took on three key charities in our market: Genesis Women’s Shelter, City House and Frisco Family Services. When one of our customers returns a customer satisfaction sheet, we donate money to each on a rotating quarterly basis. Additionally we helped City House install a grease trap a few years back. Last year we built a new kitchen for Frisco Family Services so the staff could use their facility for fundraisers, etc. Our biggest give-back was a couple of years ago, when I met a disabled Vietnam veteran who was having trouble using his master bath. He wanted us to remodel the tub/shower to create a bigger, more accessible shower for him. He had already applied to the VA and was going to receive their contribution to help offset the cost. I then huddled with my team and we decided to build him an entirely new master bathroom, fully accessible at no cost. We reached out to our business partners and everyone helped us from tile, granite, lighting, paint, glass, plumbing accessories. The homeowner was thrilled and even had tears in his eyes when we turned the bathroom over to him. Afterwards he handed us the VA check and we politely said “no thank you.”
What do you like most about the industry? Relationships? Constant change? Being able to transform someone’s living space into a more functional and a cosmetically improved perspective. We really do change lives, especially with our Certified Aging-in-Place (CAPS) projects.
Advice you may give to someone new starting out? I’d recommend they get involved and pay it forward. I actually joined the Dallas BA before I completed my purchase of Elite and it was the best move I ever made.
What is something unique that people don’t know about you? I’ve lived in Austria, Taiwan and 5 years in Alaska.