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Vernon McKown, Todd Booze, Gene McKown
TODD BOOZE
Todd Booze is co-owner and president of construction of Ideal Homes. Under his direction, the company builds about 500 new homes each year. Due to the stringent guidelines imposed on their construction, these homes have earned national attention and awards for their energy efficiency and innovative construction methods. In fact, Ideal Homes was the first builder in the nation in its price range to receive the Energy Star Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The company also received two gold National Energy Value Housing Awards and Engineered For Life status from an independent group of energy efficiency professionals in 2001 and again in 2004. Then, in 2003, the EPA designated the entire line of Ideal Homes as 5 Star Energy rated, the highest rating achievable by a builder in Ideal Homes’ price range.
Dedicated to the improvement of the homebuilding industry, Booze has served on the judging panel for the National Housing Quality Award for the last two years, conducting site visits to applicants and evaluating building quality systems. In 2002 the Norman Homebuilders Association named him its Builder of the Year.
Currently on the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association, Booze is also a member of the National Association of Home Builders, from which he received the LIFE SPIKE award. He is also a member of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association (COHBA), the Energy & Environment Building Association (EEBA), the Louisiana Pacific Great Homes Alliance, and the National Builders Association (NBA).
In the past, Booze served on the Board of Directors for COHBA and the Oklahoma Chapter of the Homeowner Warranty Corporation. He is past president and vice president of the Norman Home Builders Association and formerly served on that organization’s Board of Directors.
Active in the community, Booze is a consultant for Junior Achievement and participates in Christmas in April. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BBA in finance and is a member of the Sooner Club. He and his wife Kris live in Norman and have one child.
VERNON McKOWN
As co-owner and president of sales for Ideal Homes, Oklahoma’s largest homebuilder, Vernon McKown supervises a nationally recognized staff that now sells over 500 new homes per year. In its 16 years of operation, the company’s gross revenues have grown to $75 million.
McKown has always overseen sales for Ideal Homes, which began operations in 1989. During the year 2000 alone, the organization enjoyed a 30 percent growth rate. This type of increase in business was nothing new for Ideal Homes, however. In both 1996 and 1997 the company won the Metro 50 Award for being one of the fastest growing companies in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
Under the leadership of McKown and his partners, Ideal Homes has also received national recognition and awards for the energy efficiency of its product, becoming the first builder in its price range to receive the Energy Star Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. He also currently serves on the American Lung Association Technical Advisory Committee for Health House.
A long-time member of the board of directors for the Energy and Environment Building Association (EEBA), an international non-profit organization concerned with promoting the energy-efficient construction of buildings and communities, McKown is a past president of their board. He is a graduate of both Leadership Norman and the University of Oklahoma and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
Once named in the Oklahoma Journal Record’s 40 Under 40 as one of the 40 future leaders in Oklahoma City under the age of 40, he currently serves on the Economic Development Committee for the Norman Chamber of Commerce. McKown is also on the board of Norman’s Affordable Housing (NOAH) and the Cleveland County YMCA and is a past vice president, president and one of the founding members of Cleveland County’s Christmas in April.
Widely recognized as an expert in energy efficient building techniques, McKown has made numerous presentations on related topics at national and international builders’ conferences.
He and his wife Ronda Chapman McKown have two children.
GENE McKOWN
A homebuilder in Norman, Oklahoma since 1969, Gene McKown has developed and managed 21 real estate developments in the course of his career. Best known as co-owner and president of development for Ideal Homes (the state’s largest homebuilder) and other affiliated building companies, McKown is also a Realtor®.
McKown has taken great pride and interest, throughout his life, not only in his community but also the entire state. He was commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce for 12 years; chairman of the State Industrial Development Department from 1983 -1986; president of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, 1979 -1980; and served on the Board of Directors for Security National Bank & Trust Company for 10 years. His honors include both Realtor of the Year for 1982, Big Brother of the Year for that same year, State Honorary 4-H Member and State Honorary FFA Member. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the OSU Extension Department.
Seldom one to just sit back and relax, McKown serves on the Board of Directors for the Moore Home Builders Association. He is also a member of both the Norman Home Builders Association and the Norman Exchange Club.
A Premier Breeder with the Limousine Association, 1983-1986; McKown currently serves on the Board of Directors for the County Livestock Show; and is founder of the County Livestock Bonus Auction. Every year he serves as auctioneer – free of charge – for 20 to 25 charities in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
Staying busy isn’t a characteristic McKown developed recently. While pursuing his 1996 degree in Agriculture and Business from Oklahoma State University, he also worked for the Southwestern Publishing Company of Nashville. During his last year of employment with that firm, McKown was sales manager for 300 students.
He and Judy McKown, his wife of 40 years, have two grown sons: Vernon and Richard.
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