Colin J. Parsons honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

GREATER TORONTO, April 27, 2015 /CNW/ - A past President of Monarch Developments and the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), Colin J. Parsons, was honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on April 24.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the Association's highest honour and was presented at the 35^th annual BILD Awards, which recognizes and celebrates excellence within the building and development industry. Colin Parsons served as the Association's President 35 years ago, in 1978.

"I'm not absolutely sure I was entitled to this, maybe there was nobody else," joked Parsons at the BILD Awards last Friday, before thanking his wife for her support on their 55^th wedding anniversary. "I would like to thank my family, who are here with me tonight, as well as my Monarch family. I couldn't have done all the things I have done without the people working for me. It's been a wonderful career with wonderful people. Thank you all very much."

Parsons arrived in Canada from Wales in 1957 after serving in the British army. The young accountant joined Monarch two years later in the accounts department and controlled the keys to the petty cash box. He climbed the corporate ladder, going from Chief Accountant to Secretary, to Treasurer and Vice President. In 1976, he became President.

During his tenure as President, from 1976 to 1991, the company's assets grew from $66 million to over $227 million and expanded beyond building in Toronto into Ottawa, Kitchener, London, St. Catharines, Burlington and Montreal. Monarch also built communities south of the border in Florida, Texas, Georgia and California.

In 1978, he served at President of the Toronto Home Builders' Association (now BILD) and that year, he hosted a weekly television program that promoted the local housing industry. He would watch it with his wife, Alice, and two sons, Mark and Adam.

BILD inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 1995 and in 2009, the Ontario Home Builders' Association (OHBA) presented him with its Lifetime Award.

"Colin Parsons is a trailblazer and an industry champion and I am privileged to present him with this award recognizing his lifetime of achievement," said BILD President and CEO Bryan Tuckey, adding that more than 1,100 of his Association colleagues were in attendance for the presentation.

For a complete list of award recipients, visit www.bildawards.com. To view the Lifetime Achievement Award video about Colin Parsons, visit www.youtube.ca/bildgta

With more than 1,400 members, BILD, formed through the merger of the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association and Urban Development Institute/Ontario, is the voice of the land development, home building and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area.  BILD is proudly affiliated with the Ontario and Canadian Home Builders' Associations.

SOURCE Building Industry and Land Development Association

Amy Lazar, Manager, Communications, 416-391-3452 or 416-543-3903, [email protected]; Andrei Zaretski, Manager, Marketing & Media Relations, 416-391-3450 or 416-843-4898, [email protected]