Doug Gorman, owner of HomeMart, Inc., has received the top manufactured housing honor in the nation for the sixth consecutive year. Gorman recently was awarded the Retailer of the Year in the 2003 National Manufactured Housing Congress in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wife Millie, daughter Stacie Cannon, and grandson Cougar Cannon accepted the award on behalf of Home-Mart.

Home-Mart received the award for its commitment to customer service, industry and community involvement, and for incorporating the latest technology into the business. Home-Mart has been on the forefront in the industry in utilizing computer technology to improve its ability to serve the customer needs.

Gorman has also been appointed by Mel Martinez, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to serve on the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act Consensus Committee. Gorman is the only committee member from Oklahoma and will serve with 10 other nationally appointed members.

Gorman, the sole appointed manufactured housing retailer on the Consensus Committee, will serve with industry representatives, consumers, and other parties with a general interest nature. "To be directly appointed by Secretary Martinez himself is such all honor, and I plan to uphold my duties by adequately representing manufactured housing as a respected and cost efficient way for families to own their own home," says Gorman.

The Consensus Committee consists of three interest categories - Producers, Users, and General Interest / Public Officials. Seven committee members will represent each interest category for a total of 21 committee members. These committee members will be required under the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act to consider proposed manufactured housing standard and the effects of those standards when compared to the cost of producing such manufactured homes. They will then make appropriate recommendations to the secretary of HUD, who has the final authority regarding the revisions to the HUD code.

Gorman will serve as one of seven under the Producer category. To ensure a balanced committee, all Producers have an interest in the manufactured housing, industry, while none of the Users and no more than three of the General Interest / Public Officals have any ties, interests or connections to this specific industry. "The participants of all three categories bring creativity to the table, especially those who don't work with manufactured housing on a daily basis," says Gorman.

Gorman, a 1974 graduate of Georgia State University, is well known in the manufactured housing industry. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Manufactured Housing Institute and was past chairman of the Federated States Division, a non-profit education arm of the Manufactured Housing Institute. Gorman s knowledge and leadership were also recently recognized by tile U.S. Housing & Urban Development Council when he was invited to serve as the sole retailer of the government-appointed committee to overse3c future proposed changes to the industry's construction standards.

Home-Mart is located in Tulsa at the traffic is circle at Admiral Boulevard and Mingo Road. The company serves customers in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. Locally, Gorman has worked with the city of Tulsa and surrounding areas to help provide affordable housing to families.

Home-Mart is the only company to receive the Retailer of the Year Award for more them two consecutive years. An independent panel of professionals within the planning, community development, lending, realtor, and homebuilding industry judge the National Industry Awards.

Gorman says his company has succeeded by operating by its mission statement: To achieve customer satisfaction, by selling enhanced value homes, in a customer-friendly shopping, atmosphere. This accomplishment would not be possible without the outstanding performance of dedicated employees who have devoted years of service with Home-Mart.

For more information about Home- Mart or the Retailer of the Year Award, call 835-0500.