Todd Condon, Rebekka Koehl and John Carroll
Vice President of Sales, Vice President of Marketing and Division President
Ryland Homes
If you ask the team at Ryland Homes how they have been so successful all these years, every person is quick to credit the other.
“It’s critical to have the right people in the right positions,” says Todd Condon, vice president of sales. “We’ve built world-class teams who have helped Ryland Homes become Chicagoland’s No. 1-selling builder in 2013, and we continually empower and challenge those teams to become their best.”
Rebekka Koehl, vice president of marketing, brings 14 years of a can-do attitude and ability to the team. She agrees that the company’s people and culture are the reason Ryland was voted “Developer of the Year: Suburb” in Chicago Agent’s 2012 and 2013 Agents’ Choice Awards, and was among Builder magazine’s 100-Fastest Growing Home Builders in 2012.
“Ryland is a strong brand that offers national strength with a local focus,” Koehl says. “We build quality homes at affordable prices, and have many buyers who come back to build with us again when they are looking for their next home.”
Ryland is actively selling in 20 communities in 15 different areas around Chicagoland. Condon is currently involved in several new land acquisitions, and Koehl continues to enhance their interactive, smart-technology sales centers, which feature touch-screen interactive floor plans, up-to-the minute community information and even ideas for furniture placement.
Leading the Ryland team is Division President John Carroll, who began his career working for his father’s homebuilding company. He was involved in all aspects of the business, including construction, sales, land development and accounting, and credits “many other talented people” for helping forge his path in the industry.
But aside from Ryland’s tech-savvy features and its employees’ extensive experience, what really sets the company apart is a true devotion to the communities they help build.
“I was at a function discussing one of our newest communities with a local business manager,” Koehl recalls. “In response to my remarks about our model and plans for the surrounding neighborhood, she commented, ‘So, you’re builders who actually care.’ That comment sums up our business style completely.”
Carroll agrees that for Ryland, caring about customers and creating high-quality communities runs far deeper than anything else.
“Being able to drive through neighborhoods, even years after building them, knowing I helped create a community people will live in and enjoy for generations is an incredible feeling,” he says. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”