On January 1, 2025, Dean Hilliard assumed the office of Pennsylvania Builders Association (PBA) President.
Hilliard has been involved in the federation since the late 1990s after he was invited to a local meeting of the Central Susquehanna Builders by Jim Kistler from Electra Save.
“The members made me feel welcome and after just a short time into my membership, I was asked to join the local Board of Directors,” Hilliard said.
It wasn’t long until Hilliard’s dedication to the industry led him to start participating at the state level. First, he attended meetings and then served on the Board of Directors, soon he starting chairing committees as well as serving as the Regional Vice President and Regional Legislative Officer for PBA’s Northcentral Region.
In 2023, Hilliard was elected as PBA Secretary. He served as Vice President in 2024 and will be officially installed as the 2025 PBA President on March 21 at the PBA Winter Installation Gala in Wilkes-Barre.
Besides his service as an officer, Hilliard is active as Chair of the PBA’s Membership Committee as well as overseeing the Association’s strategic plan, and he serves as the Chair of the Pennsylvania Foundation for Housing.
Hilliard sees the biggest issue and challenge facing the home building industry today is the ability to build an energy efficient home while keeping the cost reasonable so that even first-time buyers can afford it.
Each incoming President sets goals for their year in office. Hilliard is no exception.
“I’m sure like every President before me, we have lofty goals,” he laughed.
Paramount in Hilliard’s mind is increasing membership across the state. He plans to keep members informed of proposed regulations and laws which affect the industry. Of course, he is determined to help local home builders associations and members by providing help where needed and finding new benefits.
Hilliard fully realizes that Pennsylvania is a large and diverse state. He is making it a goal of his term as President to find common benefits that will help everyone in the state and not just a few.
Aside from his PBA duties, Hilliard is the Owner and President of AC&R Services, Inc. located in Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania. AC&R Services provides heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration installation and service for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company employees 14 people, and in the spirit of Hilliard’s tremendous support for the future workforce, AC&R Services is currently training two interns from Penn Tech.
To learn more about Hilliard and to support the PBA, visit https://pabuilders.org/.