Builders in the 1940s, and to some extent today, were by nature rugged individualists: lone wolves who built and sold their own product, and viewed others in the business as competitors, not partners. So it was not without some irony that on July 20, 1944, a group of builders at the invitation of Hugh E. Prather found themselves in the same room, and agreed to work together as an association. With the allied invasion of Fortress Europe the prior month, victory was in sight as was a post-war economy of scarce materials and a housing shortage for GIs returning from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific.

On July 31, a “general meeting” at the Highland Park Village Town Hall was held, and the first (12) Directors were elected and installed. Dues were set at $25 for the remainder of the calendar year. On September 1, Grover A. Godfrey was hired as the Association’s first staff member and Executive Officer.