January 19, 2012

Matt Dill of Beechen & Dill Homes won HBAI's 2011 "Builder of the Year" award.

Annual award recognizes the state’s top homebuilding pro Staff Report

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As 2011 closed, the Home Builders Association of Illinois honored Beechen & Dill Homes president and Orland Park resident Matt Dill as its 2011 Builder of the Year.

The annual HBAI Builder of the Year award recognizes one Illinois builder who has had a positive impact on improving his or her community and the state’s homebuilding industry. HBAI senior vice president Evelyn Yowell said Dill impressed as much with his accomplishments in a still-young career as his potential to be a long-time industry leader.

“Matt showed that he was actively involved in education and displayed a deep personal spirit to be a part of solutions,” Yowell said. “He showed potential to continue being a contributor on both the local and state level and that was certainly eye catching.”

Of the high honor Dill said: “The Builder of the Year award is a tremendous honor for me, but, above all, a reflection of the dedicated and strong efforts put forth throughout 2011 by the entire Beechen & Dill Homes team.”

Though the local real estate market trudged through a fourth consecutive year of sagging sales, Beechen & Dill has outperformed many of its peers in the recession era. With a devout focus on customer service, dynamic home designs, and green construction, 2011 proved to be another successful year for Dill and his Burr Ridge-based company.

Dill’s firm constructed 23 new homes in 2011, securing a number of awards in the process, including the prestigious Gold Key Award from the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago for a custom home residence in west suburban Clarendon Hills and the September Home of the Month award from the Southwest Suburban Home Builders Association.

“It’s no secret that recent years have been a challenge for the homebuilding industry, but we’ve looked at the current climate as an opportunity to improve, innovate, and exceed our homebuyers’ expectations,” Dill said. “It’s exciting that the Builder of the Year award recognizes that commitment.”

The SSHBA nominated Dill for the HBAI honor citing his “hardworking attitude,” embrace of new technologies, and commitment to filling leadership roles within the homebuilding industry and Southland community.

Dill is an incoming SSHBA board member, an active leader on the SSHBA’s Sales & Marketing Council, an Economic Development Committeeman in the Village of Romeoville, and vice president with the Sperling Brothers Foundation, a Palos Heights-based nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance to families in times of crisis.

In Dill’s eight years at the helm of the homebuilding business his father, Gerald, co-founded in 1972, Dill has grown the small business tenfold, leading the development of several successful communities in Chicago’s southwest suburbs. Dill is also readying to launch a new division of Beechen & Dill, Summit Signature Homes, an arm that will represent Dill’s hands-on, high-end custom homebuilding work in the western suburbs.

Dill grew up in the construction world. In his primary years, he shadowed his father to job sites with a Fischer Price tool belt around his waste; as a teen, he worked as a laborer and swept houses; and in his college years, he learned and practiced carpentry.

After graduating from the University of Iowa with a business degree, Dill worked for a large national builder to gain a different perspective on homebuilding and additional best practice insights. He rejoined Beechen & Dill Homes in 2003 as its president and has instituted a number of efforts to distinguish Beechen & Dill from the pack.

In 2008, Dill led Beechen & Dill’s efforts to earn Environments for Living Diamond certification, becoming Illinois’ first homebuilder to earn the distinguished energyefficiency credential. As a Certified Green Professional, Dill further demonstrates his dedication to building more energy efficient and environmentally friendly homes.

With best construction practices in hand, Dill installed a 10-year structural warranty on all new Beechen & Dill Homes, a move to ensure customers receive the quality and long-term value their investment deserves.

“The mission is always to please the customer and make sure we’re offering the most inspired, well-crafted home we possibly can,” Dill said.