Last week, Seabrook had the opportunity to host the National Town Builders Association (NTBA) Fall Roundtable right here in town! Seabrook’s co-founder and CEO, Casey Roloff, is a proud member of the NTBA, and was honored to host one of this year’s meetings.
What Is The NTBA?
The National Town Builders Association is a group of individuals dedicated to serving builders and developers. They strive to help them build the best towns, traditional neighborhoods, and town centers. The organization is currently headed up by Lou Marquet.
Twice a year the NTBA meets for a member roundtable event with the purpose to help foster peer-to-peer communication and learning opportunities. With the most recent being here in Seabrook, the focus was to highlight the process of Seabrook’s town planning, foundational concepts of Seabrook’s unique layout, and to help other town builders understand and learn from Seabrook’s triumphs and also mistakes.
With multiple sessions each day, members heard from key players within Seabrook’s design and build team. The Town Co-founder, Casey Roloff presented alongside his team. The Director of Town Planning & Design, Stephen Poulakos, presented the unique tools and architectural touches that Seabrook used to streamline and amplify its growth. Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Gundersen, presented on the financial choices the town had to make in order to succeed as a business while also creating a community. The Principal Town Planner, Laurence Qamar, revisited what Seabrook has learned from its inspiration, Seaside, Florida.
Each of the sessions was unique, insightful, and motivating as members learned about how Seabrook came to be, as well as what the future looks like for our town.
The NTBA Experiences Our Local Culture
Part of hosting the conference, Seabrook wanted to also create several social and cultural opportunities for the NTBA members to take part in. One of these events was a traditional salmon bake hosted by a group from the Quinault Indian Nation. Seabrook is proud to have the Quinault Nation as neighbors and have cherished their relationship together for the past 20 years. It was captivating to see people from all over the country experience something so unique and special to coastal Washington.
Many of the attendees sat and watched as the salmon was baked on wooden planks, taking a pause from the conversation of town building to observe this special cultural experience. It was an honor to come together with the Quinault Nation to celebrate their traditions while connecting with each other around a dinner that has rich historical meaning to our region.
In addition to the delicious salmon, there was also food and beverages provided by The Belfry. Melanie Catanzaro, The Belfry’s general manager and Seabrook homeowner, did a wonderful job creating a beautiful spread in Crescent Park’s event tent.
Taking A Piece of Seabrook With You
The weekend created time for a lot of reflecting and reminiscing on Seabrook’s history while building excitement for what the future will hold. The town’s leadership team enjoyed sharing the story with so many new and familiar faces.
The Fall Roundtable not only helped foster ideas and create opportunities for big thinking but also helped create lasting friendships. For more information on the story behind Seabrook, learn more about how our town became what it is today.