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Awards Recognize Achievements of Home Builders Institute Job Corps Graduates

The first NAHB President’s Award will be presented to Fabian Liera, 28, a graduate from the Home Builders Institute’s plumbing program at the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center who today is owner and general manager of Ironwood/Winnelson Plumbing Supply in Tucson, AZ.

Liera began his career in 1993, worked in the trade and later joined a plumbing supplier pulling orders and packing trucks.

Liera’s sister met her husband at the Fred G. Acosta Job Corps campus, and he is also a graduate of HBI’s plumbing program and works for his brother-in-law as the manager of sister company, Tucson/Winnelson.

Liera has nine employees, two of them graduates from HBI’s program at the Acosta center, and he has established an internship program for HBI plumbing students, “because I wanted to give back to a program that’s done so much for me.” He estimates that his company cleared $4.2 million last year.

The award will be presented annually by the president of NAHB to an HBI graduate who has overcome adversity and succeeded in the building industry. NAHB President Bobby Rayburn will be making this year’s presentation during the NAHB Board of Directors meeting on Friday, Jan. 14, at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando.

Success and Courage: Trademarks for Winner of Shirley Wiseman Lach Award for Exceptional Promise

This year’s winner of the Shirley Wiseman Lach Award for Exceptional Promise, Candace Ellisor, 36, is a graduate of HBI’s carpentry program at the Sacramento Job Corps Center. She is a petty officer third class in the U.S. Navy and stationed in San Diego.

While in Job Corps, Ellisor served on the student government, counseled fellow students, founded a video library and worked in a maintenance job at the center after classes. Following graduation, she devoted 10 years to the trade, securing her journey level certification. She returned to the campus many times as a motivational speaker, talking with other young women facing the stereotypical challenges posed by the construction trades.

Ellisor joined the Navy in 2002, has completed three tours of duty in Iraq and is soon to become a mother.

In a letter to the winner, Lach wrote, ”Candace, three years ago you joined the U.S. Navy and put your talents to work at the service of our great nation. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for serving our country. I admire your courage and the choice you made to apply and grow the skills you learned in Job Corps. You have shown exemplary promise and I am proud that you are the recipient of this award.”

The award will be presented to Ellisor by her HBI carpentry instructor Mike Kohlbaker, Sacramento Job Corps Center Director Peter Gregerson and HBI Regional Program Manager Jesse Constancio at a ceremony at the San Diego Job Corps Center.

For more information, email Maria McIntyre at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912.

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