Mungo Homes’ newly created Mid-Atlantic region has gained Ric Rojas as its regional president. Based out of the Raleigh, North Carolina, office, Rojas joins the company with over three decades of experience in development and home building.
In his new role, he will oversee operations across Mungo’s Raleigh, Richmond, and Triad markets, and report directly to CEO Geoff Shiley. Rojas says, “These are great markets for job growth, raising families, retirement, education, healthcare, and entertainment.”
Marking an evolution in its regional leadership structure, the new region joins the existing Coastal region, led by regional president Lee McLoud, and Central region, led by regional president Chris Condon.
BUILDER caught up with Rojas to learn more about the new region’s strategy, current risks, and what’s next for Mungo Homes.
What attracted you to Mungo Homes at this point in your career, and what stood out about the company’s culture and growth trajectory?
I have known our CEO, Geoff Shiley, and the executive chairman, Steven Mungo, for quite some time. I have always admired what they have accomplished at Mungo Homes. Especially the culture that has been created, along with the tenure of so many great people here at Mungo. Geoff and I have been meeting a few times a year for 15 years just to catch up with one another and this most recent visit turned into a bigger conversation and opportunity we both agreed could be a strong fit. So far, it’s been great!
How do you define success for the newly created Mid-Atlantic region in your first 12 to 18 months?
First, build on the great culture that is Mungo because it is about the people first and foremost. Second, support the smart growth of each division and offer my experience in land acquisitions, scaling up businesses, talent development, and talent acquisition to support the smart growth. Smart growth is not in just unit growth but building diversity in sales prices, developing communities with great lifestyles, and, as a result, becoming resilient to our industry’s ebbs and flows.
From your more than 30 years of experience in land development and home building, where do you see the biggest opportunities or risks in today’s Mid-Atlantic market?
There is always risk in real estate for those that tend to over-leverage themselves. We are not that company, and we mitigate risk through responsible underwriting, managing our balance sheet, and diversifying our home offerings so that we cater to many buyer segments. The biggest opportunity is building lifestyle (great communities not just homes), providing a great customer experience, developing our talent, and being a company that attracts the best talent. These factors make you a resilient real estate company.
How will your experience leading divisions and regions across multiple builders shape your approach to scaling operations and maintaining execution across markets?
Having experiences in a long career like mine, I have seen the best of times and worst of times in real estate. I have worked with some great leaders, and I have worked with some I would now classify as ‘not so much a leader.’ I believe what I have learned in my career has provided me with a strong understanding of why culture in our business is so important. But culture isn’t instilling a ‘good time.’ It’s about creating an environment where people feel safe to express their business opinions, collaborate, and belong on a team that is accountable to certain key business metrics. Key business metrics must also include great customer experience and great team member experience. Get that right, and maintaining execution is easy for your sales and marketing, production, warranty, permitting, and purchasing teams. And your land acquisitions, entitlements, and development teams are focused on scaling the operations.
How does the new Mid-Atlantic region position the company for future expansion?
We have grown a lot organically and through some key acquisitions. This structure will allow Lee, Chris, and myself to spend more time scaling the operations in each location. Our geographic growth in each market introduces new municipalities to understand, stretches our teams when we need to help our divisions make key decisions on acquiring land, allows us to help our divisions grow their talent, and allows us to help our divisions find new talent.
