Benchmark Builders, a home builder headquartered in Newport, recently celebrated two milestones: the company’s 25th Anniversary and strong sales volume for 2013.
“It was a great year for Benchmark Builders. Not only did we surpassed our stretched sales goal by a significant margin, we did so almost to the day of our silver anniversary,” said the company’s president, Steve Bomberger, during a corporate gathering at Café Gelato in Newark. Most of the company’s 35 employees and many family members were on hand for the event.
Benchmark Builders was founded in 1988 when the company began building commercial buildings at First State Industrial Park in Newport, Delaware. Three years later the company started on its first residential project, the 368-home community of Frenchtown Woods near Glasgow.
In 1993, the company became one of the first builders in Delaware to begin marketing the concept of an age-restricted, 55-and-over community. The 192-home community of the Village of Hershey Run became part of the company’s portfolio, one of the first 55-plus communities in Delaware. Since then, its catalog of communities built has reached 22 for a total of 1,855 total homes constructed and sold. At present, Benchmark Builders is marketing eight communities in Kent and New Castle counties and more are on the way for 2014.
Although building homes is the focus of Benchmark Builders, the company has found many ways to give back to the community and building industry. One of the noteworthy contributions is their support of Habitat for Humanity. “Benchmark Builders has been a tremendous and significant partner of Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County,” says the organization’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Smith. In 2000, Benchmark Builders took a leadership role in ensuring the success of Habitat’s first-ever Blitz Build, an effort that built four homes in one week. “Every year since that time, Benchmark Builders has continued to give HFHNCC its time, talent and resources to help us fulfill our mission of building homes,” said Smith.
On the industry side, there have been three Benchmark Builders’ employees who have led the organization as president for a total of five years: Francis R. Julian, Vice President of Benchmark Builders, 2003 to 2005; Steve Bomberger, 2007 to 2009; and Fred Fortunato, Vice President of Project Management at Benchmark Builders, is the immediate past-president of HBADE. “The Home Builders Association knows it can count on its members, but Benchmark Builders has always gone the extra mile, whether it involves chairing a committee, serving on the Board of Directors, or taking a leadership role in the Home Builders Association on a national level,” says Howard Fortunato, executive director of Home Builders Association of Delaware. “We appreciate the vision that Benchmark Builders has brought to HBA-DE.” The company has also won a number of awards for its work.
Steve Bomberger commented, “As a local builder, we are able to respond to the needs of our customers quickly and effectively. It’s that simple.” “We are proud of the commitment we make to our customers, our community and our industry, “and we look foreword to more of the same.”
