Lawton builder wins Oklahoma Builder of the Year Award

Lawton Businessman and Home Builder Ron Nance was recently awarded the 2023 Oklahoma Builder of the Year Award at the Oklahoma Home Builders Association’s Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet.

The event took place Jan. 12 at the historic First National Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

Nance just completed his term as 2022-2023 president of the Oklahoma Home Builders Association. The Oklahoma Home Builders Association represents over 2,500 members in 11 local associations statewide.

Nance is a Certified Professional Builder and President and CEO of The Oaks Development Company. He has been building homes in the Lawton community since 1985. Nance is both a developer and builder. His signature development, known as “The Oaks” was a vision he began to formulate almost 20 years ago. Nance owned almost 1 square mile of land just south of Southwest 67th street and W. Lee Blvd. Nance began to envision creating a community of executive level homes on this land. Nance took his raw agricultural land and turned it into one of Lawton’s premier new home communities, The Oaks, according to a press release.

Nance’s daughter, Whitney Perry, graduated from The University Oklahoma and moved back to Lawton to join the family business just as the first homes in The Oaks were being completed. This father daughter team now works side by side designing and building custom homes in The Oaks.

The Oaks consists of three developments: Oak Pointe, Oak Ridge and The Bluffs at Oak Ridge Lake. Nance has built hundreds of homes and two lakes in his developments including Oak Ridge lake which is the largest lake the City of Lawton with 30 acres of water and two miles of shoreline. Nance is putting in the street and preparing to begin building the first homes at The Bluffs at Oak Ridge Lake. Nance’s herd of award winning bison can be seen roaming the land North of Oak Ridge Lake, according to a press release.

Civic involvement is nothing new to Nance. In February 2007, Nance was featured on national television when he was selected by ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition to build a home for Sgt. Gene Westbrook and his family. Nance has played an integral role in furthering economic development in Lawton by serving as chairman of the Lawton Economic Development Corporation. Nance has served in many organizations including past positions as a Lawton City Councilman, president of the Lawton Home Builders Association, Oklahoma Bison Association President, and director of the National Bison Association. Nance has served on numerous other boards including Southwestern Medical Center, Lawton Airport Authority, First National Bank and Lawton Board of Realtors.

Nance was awarded three trophies at the Oklahoma Home Builders Association’s Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet: one for the 2023 Builder of the Year Award and the other for serving as the 2022/2023 OkHBA president and the third for receiving the Little Spike Award. Nance will serve as immediate past president of the Oklahoma Home Builders Association.