Staff Bios



		SMA Staff
		Steve Maltzman Partner / Founder Steve Maltzman has more than twenty years experience working within the building industry both as a controller and chief financial officer for various building and remodeling firms Steve's prior expenience also includes over three years as product manager for a leading developer of software for the construction industry, and five years as an auditor and consultant for a major CPA firm. With his expertise in the areas of financial and business management for builders, Steve has been a featured speaker at various homebuilding conferences as well as being a regular speaker at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) construction industry conference. Steve is the author of several Cost of Doing Business Studies for the NAHB and is a featured columnist for Custom Home magazine. Steve served as the accountant for NAHB's 20 clubs for over 8 years. Steve holds an MBA degree in accounting from Rutgers University and a BA from Dickinson College and is currently serving on NAHB's Education Committee.

		Bob Whitten Partner With 25+ years of management experience, Bob is a well-known advisor and noted authority in the areas of business and strategic planning, accounting and financial management, management reporting, software selection, organizational development, incentive compensation system development, cost control system Implementation, and production management. Previously, Bob served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of Land Solutions, a Florida based land development firm; EVP for Cooper Homes, the home building division of Cooper Communities; and Chief Operations and Financial Officer of Wayne Homes of Ohio for the ten years prior to their sale to Centex. While at Wayne Homes of Ohio, Bob helped triple Wayne’s annual volume while raising profit levels to 34% gross and near 20% net. Building on scattered sites and on the land of their customers exclusively, Wayne was the first non-land owning builder to be bought by a public home building company. Bob also served as Director of Business Management for the National Association of Homebuilders. He is author of the best selling NAHB book "Building Partnerships: How to Work with Trade Contractors". His is also a frequent speaker to industry groups having conducted over 500 workshops and seminars. He has lectured on business management for homebuilders at the NAHB IBS each year since 1989. He is consistently one of NAHB’s highest rated speakers.

		Mike Benshoof Partner Mike has more than 20 years of experience in the home building industry. He started learning the industry from the ground up in his family’s business. He then spent six years at NVR in production and sales management, before becoming the Director of Business Analysis for the Economics Group at National Association of Home Builders. Today Mike serves the industry as President of Builders’ Training Group, which is the nation’s leading provider of continuing education for new homebuilders, and as Vice President of SMA Consulting, which provides management consulting and financial analysis for hundreds of builders every year. A graduate of Penn State University, Mike also earned an MBA form Marymount University and is a frequent speaker at homebuilding conferences.

		Russel Neumann Partner With 20 years of experience in the home building industry and a degree in Construction Management from Ohio State University, Russel has gained valuable experience in the production and custom home building environments. This experience includes 5+ years at Wayne Homes of Ohio prior to their sale to Centex in Estimating, Purchasing, and New Product Development. Russel gained additional experience with Cooper Communities, a developer of large scale retirement communities, where he was the Director of Production Support. He was Operations Manager and Partner for Vista South Custom Homes, running sales and construction operations day-to-day. Before joining SMA, he served as Vice President of Purchasing and Estimating for Mercedes Homes Melbourne division in Central Florida producing over 1,000 units per year. Russel’s areas of expertise include construction management, estimating, drafting, and applying technology to the pre-construction and post-construction processes to improve operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

		Patrick Miller Partner Growing up in Monaca, Pennsylvania, Patrick says he always had a bit of homebuilding love in him. He has been drawing houses since he was a kid. In 3rd grade he was sketching houses, and by 10th grade he was designing them for a living from vocational school. Patrick further put this passion to use at his internship and later part time job, drafting public schools for Foreman & Bashford. He graduated from Kent State with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Interior Space Planning with a focus on Architectural History. He settled there in Ohio, which is where he began working with Wayne Homes. During the nearly three years he was there, he created a new modular product line and quickly learned the importance of value engineering. After Wayne’s sale to Centex, he relocated to Alabama and began working for Breland Homes. He hit the ground running, quickly turning six different, unnecessary product lines into three. He value engineered and did the artwork for all communities in a company that did 130 houses a year. Patrick saw Gross Profit increase from 12% to 23% while there and began to also work on marketing and advertising. Around this same time, he began working with Madison Homes and introduced a new product there: scattered site start ups. When the company merged with Hunter Homes in 2002, he continued his work. He kept his designs simple and always believed in giving customers a big house for a low price. He found that as crazy as it sounds, the more he said no to custom options the more the customer satisfaction increased. Patrick also became one of the sole pushers of a new Corporate Relations Buyers Club. He began consulting with SMA unofficially in 2004, helping several of our clients with their designs and we’re happy to finally have him with us full time. Modestly, Patrick says, “I’m not terribly creative, just pragmatic.” Patrick is looking forward to working with SMA Consulting and its clients. He loves starting something from scratch and doing a home right the first time. It isn’t uncommon for Patrick to sit down with skeptical builders about their home plans and receiving a call months later stating, “Thank you, you were right.” When Patrick isn’t on the clock, he can be found with his family or cruising in his second passion: British sports cars. He and his wife have two sons, Nathaniel and Stephen.
		SMA Affiliates
		Beverly Koehn President / Beverly Koehn & Associates Beverly Koehn has more than 20 years experience in marketing, management and sales training. She's more than just a sales trainer and coach - delivering strategies and solutions for: Improved Sales Performance, Enhanced Customer Service, Total Team Commitment, and Lasting Customer Loyalty. Beverly recently received NAHB's highest honor, the Associate of the Year Award. She is a Master Instructor for the NAHB University of Housing and Home Builders Institute, as well as a licensed Texas Real Estate broker. She has been a featured speaker and seminar leader for the National Association of Home Builders. She is also a featured author and contributor to numerous industry and professional publications.

		Jane Meagher President / Success Strategies Jane has 20 years experience as a professional in new home marketing and sales among a wide variety of applications. She sharpened her market research skills as a Senior Market Analyst for the nationally-recognized William Becker Organization, where she was responsible for feasibility studies, competitive market studies, and product positioning for builders and developers throughout the Northeast. She has worked in-house for both small and large builders, and received the Rookie of the Year award as a Salesperson with K. Hovnanian Companies. Jane is a highly sought-after public speaker, lecturing frequently on a variety of marketing-related topics at local, regional and national building industry forums. Ms. Meagher previously held a seat on the New Jersey Senior Housing Council Board of Directors and she is a past Chairperson for the New Jersey Builders' Association's Sales and Marketing Committee. She is an active member of many NAHB committees involving education, design and marketing.

		Carol Smith Customer Service Consultant Carol has 30+ years of experience with customers, and it is immediately apparent in her realistic and practical approach to customer relations. She has performed over 700 buyer orientations, held the posts of superintendent, custom home sales manager, and vice president of customer relations. Carol has presented hundreds of educational programs to builders and associates in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. She has been a featured speaker at the annual International Builders Show for over 20 years. Carol is an award winning columnist for Custom Home Magazine and has written dozens of articles for such publications as Builders Management Journal, Premier Homes, Building Homes and Profits, BUILDER, and Professional Builder magazines. Carol also has several books published the NAHB's Builder Books.