NORMAN — Dana Kelso, the new Executive Officer for the Builders Association of South Central Oklahoma, Inc. started Jan. 1 but she’s been a Norman resident for a decade.
Kelso has a 20-year background in radio sales and on-air broadcasting as well as six years in management with Enterprise Rent a Car in Oklahoma and Hawaii. Raised in Enid, Okla., she graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a major in communications.
BASCO Board President Dusty Johnston said Kelso was picked for her “vast knowledge of sales, recruitment and marketing.”
“I’m thrilled to be working in Norman,” Kelso said.
Kelso said the job with BASCO will allow her time for more community involvement. The former account executive for KRXO also spent six years in the Army Reserve Band. She has been married for 12 years and is the “proud working mother” of a five-year-old son that attends Cleveland Elementary.
“I’m excited to learn a whole new industry,” Kelso said. “Coming from radio, I didn’t know what was actually behind building a home.”
BASCO is a non-profit trade association.
“All of our board members are volunteers,” she said.
Kelso will focus on rebuilding the membership and raising community awareness about BASCO and what the organization does.
“One of our landmark events that’s one of our key fundraisers is the Festival of Homes and that’s what we’re getting geared up for right now,” Kelso said. “The Festival of Homes is June 8-16.”
The festival is an opportunity to showcase new trends in homes.
“Last year we had 20 homes on the tour and we anticipate that many this year,” she said. “We build it from the ground up. We show it, and the proceeds go to benefit the organization.”
The 2013 show home is being built by Rhonda Trower of Custom Builders of Oklahoma, LLC. Thousands of potential home buyers visit the show home each year.
“We work with contractors within the building industry,” Kelso said. “I’m an information source for our builders and within the public.”
BASCO works to educate builders on ethics, technical information and city ordinances.
“We have a government affairs committee that works with the city of Norman on code issues, code compliance, and updating code changes,” she said.
BASCO helps to keep members informed of any changes and promotes information on building trends such as more environmentally friendly and tornado-safe structures.
“Everybody is wanting to build greener and more economically,” Johnston said.
“One of the last topics of the government affairs committee was working with landscapers to plant more drought-friendly landscaping plantings,” Kelso said.
BASCO represents the building industry in Cleveland, McClain, Garvin and Grady Counties. In addition to 58 builder members, BASCO has 115 associate and eight affiliate members who are sub-contractors, real estate agents, bricklayers, marketers, painters, electricians, decorators, carpenters, finishers, bankers and more. It was chartered Feb. 19, 1949 as the Norman Home Builders Association and eventually evolved into the Builders Association of South Central Oklahoma in 2008.
Joy Hampton
366-3539
jhampton@
normantranscript.com
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