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Moroney: 'Land is something that is prized'

MBA executive director strives for stronger industry

By Candace Doyle
Editor

Matt Moroney
Executive Director
Metropolitan Builders Association

Having grown up on a farm in Iowa, Matt Moroney is well aware of the importance of real estate.

"Land is something that's prized," said the 33-year-old executive director of the Metropolitan Builders Association. "I think it just comes from the family background. It's the jewel of the family."

But Moroney, who was promoted in 2000 to executive director of the 1,100-member association, didn't know from the get-go that being in the home-building industry was where he wanted to be.

Moroney, who lives in Waukesha with his wife, Linda, said he graduated from Loras College in Dubuque in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in economics and political science. From there, he went on to earn a law degree in 1994 from the University of Iowa.

But soon after he started law school, Moroney realized that he was in the wrong profession.

"I kind of knew after my first year of law school, it wasn't for me," he said.

Yet, he stuck it out and became a general practice attorney in Iowa before moving to Milwaukee, where he landed a job in 1997 as a lobbyist for the MBA, which represents home builders in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington and Jefferson counties.

"I really liked being a lobbyist, especially for the building industry," he said. "My personal beliefs and the industry's are very cohesive."

One of those beliefs, he said, is that the industry should be a good steward of property.

"The industry, in general, is very sensitive to the environment," Moroney said. "No one wants to live in an area that's degraded."

Another value he shares with the industry, he said, is the notion that homeownership is for everyone, and that the industry needs to provide affordable housing.

"Homeownership is good for the community," he said. "It's a very positive thing."

Moroney said the industry is attuned to that as many in the home-building business started out working on a crew and built a business by "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps." He said the industry here is filled with people who made the American Dream a reality for themselves.

"It's an honor and really a privilege to work with so many great people," he said.

On the cutting edge

Moroney also takes pride in the MBA, which he said is one of the most progressive home-building associations in the country.

"If you take a look at our organization, it's unique nationwide," he said. "Milwaukee was the first to host a parade of homes."

Additionally, the MBA was the first to create a manual of industry standards.

"Our national association has used ours as a baseline to start national standards," Moroney said.

As important, especially as mold becomes an increasingly important issue in the industry, is the MBA's binding arbitration program.

"We were one of the first that offers binding arbitration," he said. "It's a win-win situation."

As a former attorney, Moroney said he knows that settling disputes out of court is less time-consuming and less costly.

"We're always on the cutting edge," he said.

Moroney's aim is that the MBA stay there, too, and the new headquarters in the Ridgeview Corporate Center is a step in the right direction.

The new, larger space, he said, will help the MBA reach more members with its education programs, a key short-term goal of Moroney's.

"We've taken a quantum leap here moving into a new space," he said.

But Moroney wants, too, to reach homeowners, and he said the MBA will be offering to the general public more seminars, including ones on mold.

Beyond that, Moroney said the MBA will continue to do what it's done in the past -- lobby on behalf of home builders to reduce the increased levels of regulations at all stages of government and to quell the growing trend to increase developers' fees at each turn.

"We're seeing timelines for project approvals steadily increase," he said. "When you have layer upon layer of legislation, you have conflict. I think it's becoming more difficult to be a builder and a land developer in today's marketplace."