Parade of Homes

Women in Construction Glenda Sobie >> There's a first time for everything. After 76 years of chairmen, the Manitoba Home Builders' Association is about to seat a woman as chair of the board. Glenda Sobie, general manager of Ventura Custom Homes Ltd., has already had a chance to warm up to her new role as a current MHBA vice-chair. "This coming November, I will be chair and I will be the first female chair ever, so it's pretty amazing," she says. "I feel quite honoured." General Manager Ventura Custom Homes Ltd. Sobie's love of the construction business started early. She grew up with a dad who built the family home in Oakbank, along with the local motor hotel and plenty of other projects. "He was always building stuff like sandboxes for us," she says. "Then he built furniture for my daughter, like night tables and dressers. So I've always seen him building something." She surmises her dad's sense of fulfillment came from "the completion, seeing the finished product. There's something satisfying about it." Sobie got her own start in the construction business right out of high school, as a receptionist at Flair Homes. From 1986 to 2000, she owned Glenlea Homes with her former (now late) husband. These days, her responsibilities at Ventura Custom Homes are wide-ranging, from general oversight to double-checking details in all the paperwork necessary for building each and every custom home. She meets with site supervisors every Friday to stay up-to-date on construction schedules — and to keep on top of the inevitable challenges. "Sometimes they're weather-related or they could be a problem with a trade not keeping up. We try to resolve any issues, so it's a lot of problem-solving, and a lot of administration," she says. Once homes are completed, Sobie likes to do a walk-through to see the finished product and to find out how the homeowners enjoyed the process. Cont'd on page 12 Parade of Homes Fall 2013 11

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