Bob Barnard, president of Barnard and Associates Remodeling in Fayetteville and a former president of the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia, has been elected president of the Home Builders Association of Georgia, representing approximately 12,000 companies and over 250,000 individuals in the building industry.

Barnard has been active in the statewide association of home builders since 1993 and has held the offices of vice president, vice president/treasurer and vice president/secretary. He has worked with HBAG and the state of Georgia to implement a builder licensing program within the state and was recently appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue to serve on the newly formed state licensing board.

The Home Builders Association of Georgia is part of a three-tiered federation of local, state and national home builders associations that represent the housing industry at all levels of government and seeks to expand the opportunities for all consumers to have safe, affordable housing that meets their needs. The HBAG supports local associations throughout the state and acts as a liaison between the local and national organizations, as well as home builders associations in other states.

"The most rewarding part of my experience with my local and state Home Builders Associations," Barnard said, "is having the opportunity to represent my fellow builders and consumers before our lawmakers and regulators. Our goal is, through education and information, to help ensure that unnecessary bureaucracy, fees and taxes do not erode the American dream of home ownership.

Now 45, Barnard has been actively involved in the building and remodeling industry since he was five years old, going to work with his father in his remodeling business in South Miami, Fla., where he was born.

Barnard's family moved in 1973 to Fayette County, where he attended Fayette County High School and graduated from Clayton Christian while working in the poured wall business. He studied architecture at Southern Tech in Marietta and finance and real estate at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala.

He worked in the family business of Barnard Brothers Poured Foundations, established Bob Barnard Homes in 1987, and joined the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia in 1989.

Barnard served as president of the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia in 1996-1997 and was named Builder of the Year by that association in 1996. The HBA of Midwest Georgia includes builders in 10 counties: Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper.

In 2004 he was chosen for membership in the Southern Living Custom Home Program based on his restoration of the Travis House on South Glynn Street in downtown Fayetteville. Barnard worked closely with the Fayetteville Downtown Development Authority and the building's owners, attorneys Mike Hofrichter and Greg Rogers, to restore and make additions to the 1893 house, creating almost 6,000 sq. ft. of usable space.

Other recent projects include building the Winshape House in Hampton, along with other members of the HBA of Midwest Georgia, to provide a home for children without parents, a project founded and funded by Chick-fil-A founder Truitt Cathy.

Barnard lives in Fayetteville with his wife Cindy and three children.

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