SEQUIM — A former Port Orchard mayor is now leading the North Peninsula Building Association.
Lary Coppola started work Monday and is commuting between Port Orchard and the association’s office at 350 W. Washington St., Suite 3, in Sequim.
“I’m thrilled to be here,” Coppola said Thursday. “I’m drinking out of a fire hose now, meeting people and learning what I need to know.”
“I’m having a great time.”
Coppola, 62, was named executive director in July of the group that represents builders and associates of the building industry,
He replaces outgoing executive officer FaLeana Wech, 41, who had been the executive director since February 2009.
Wech is starting a new job in Olympia on Monday. She is the new communications and public relations director at Building Industry Association of Washington.
Coppola, who served as Port Orchard mayor from 2008-2012, leads about 175 members and oversees a $200,000 operating budget.
“When I was hired, the board was very clear about where they want the association to go, and it’s my job to take it there,” Coppola said.
Association goals
Goals include increasing membership, raising the visibility of the association in the community, reinvigorating the Future Builders Program and being more active in government affairs, as well as refocusing on Built Green of Clallam County, Coppola said.
The Future Builders Program, created in 1999, includes an education partnership with area high schools and colleges to encourage youths to enter the building trades.
Board President Garret DelaBarre said the board had sought an executive with business savvy and good organizational and public outreach skills.
He is “tasked with assuring compliance with governance procedures, developing, recommending and monitoring budgets and implementing the strategic vision of the board,” according to the job posting, which listed a salary range of $35,000 to $45,000 per year.
Coppola said the amount of his salary is confidential.
Wech’s last day at the Sequim office was Wednesday. She will be available to Coppola by phone and email, he said.
“I’m ensuring we have a smooth transition,” Wech said.
The past few years have been challenging, but before her departure, Wech predicted a recovery on the horizon, citing improvements in the Seattle market and the typical one-year-plus lag for outlying areas.
For now, Coppola his wife, Dee Coppola — and their 9-year-old grandson, Bryce — live in Port Orchard, and he is commuting.
Publishing business
The Coppolas own Wet Apple Media, a publishing company that produces the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, WestSound Home & Garden magazine and Remodel Kitsap. The company also builds websites and smartphone apps.
Coppola said he lost re-election to the mayor’s post by only five votes.
“One of my proudest achievements was overhauling the [Port Orchard] permitting process so it became the fastest — and most certain — in Kitsap County,” Coppola said.
As Coppola settles into his new job, the family will re-evaluate their living situation, he said.
It isn’t Coppola’s first time in Sequim. In the 1980s, he lived in Sequim and published real estate magazines, he said.
His background is in construction. He did construction work for electrical contractors before he went into business for himself.
Coppola has been a member of the Home Builders Association of Kitsap County for almost 20 years and a member of its board for more than 15 years.
He served as a state director for the Building Industry Association of Washington from Kitsap County for about 20 years.
He is a member of the state association’s Legislative Policy Committee and the Washington Affordable Housing Council, and is its 2013 vice chair.
Coppola’s construction experience includes completion of the National Electrical Contractors Association apprenticeship program and running residential, commercial and light industrial construction projects for electrical contractors.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach contributed to this report.
