LaFitte to receive Lifetime Achievement Award

Dorothy “Dottie” LaFitte will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the REGAL Awards Gala on February 23, 2019. This award, presented by the Sales and Marketing Council (SMC) of the Building Industry Association of Central South Carolina (BIA), recognizes those individuals who maintain their commitment, focus, and energy over a lifetime of superlative results that should be singled out for the leadership and inspiration they provide to others.

LaFitte has made significant contribution to the housing industry on many levels unprecentented by any other woman in South Carolina. As president of LaFitte Custom Homes she conquered the gender barriers and opened the door for women to enter the “man’s world of construction” in 1977. As the first woman in Columbia to manage her own residential construction company she has led other women in her career through her involvement in the Building Industry Association of Central South Carolina, Home Builders Association of South Carolina and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

A former member of the Richland County Planning Commission she has served as South Carolina’s Trustee for BUILD-PAC, the political action committee for NAHB since 1982 and is an NAHB Senior Life Director. She served as president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia, now the BIA, in 1987 and has received numerous awards for her association involvement including Builder of the Year and the Gordon A. Harrison Award, and she was inducted in the South Carolina Housing Hall of Fame in 1998.

The SMC encourages and maintains a high quality of sales and marketing expertise through educational programs, networking opportunities and recognition for its members. The SMC exists within the BIA to educate and improve the sales and marketing skills of member builders, REALTORS®, on-site sales representatives and industry support members.

For additional information on the SMC and the 30th annual REGAL Awards Gala visit www.BIAofCentralSC.com