Melbourne-based Holiday Builders has tapped Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman to serve as a company ambassador to promote "the benefits and timeliness of homeownership," Holiday Executives said Thursday. Lieberman, 49, won a silver medal as part of the United States women's basketball team at the 1976 Olympics. She went on to play and coach women's professional basketball, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. She also has worked as women's basketball analyst for television networks such as ABC and NBC, and currently works for ESPN.
Holiday Builders Chief Executive Officer Kim Shelpman said the company signed Lieberman to a three-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Shelpman said Lieberman's duties will include representing Holiday at homeownership seminars and other events around the country. Holiday also will be a sponsor of Lieberman's youth basketball camps.
Shelpman, who played on the women's basketball team at Rollins College, said Holiday connected with Lieberman because she and Lieberman have been friends, and she wanted to tap Lieberman's experience in "giving back to communities and educating the public."
"Right now, I think there's a lot of confusion about how to buy a home and when to buy a home," said Shelpman, who replaced Richard Hawkes as Holiday's CEO in August 2006.
Given decreased home prices from the housing market slowdown and recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, one of Lieberman's main messages will be that now is a good time to buy a home, Shelpman said.
Holiday, which touts its "affordable, quality" homes, has been one of Brevard County's largest homebuilders. Builder magazine last year ranked Holiday as the nation's 28th-largest homebuilder. Based on Eau Gallie Boulevard, the company was founded in 1983, and has built more than 30,000 single-family homes in Florida, Alabama and Texas. The company also plans to build homes in Mississippi, Shelpman said.
Source: FloridaToday.com