http://waynehomes.com/locations/news-events/press-releases/ Current news from Wayne Homesen-us Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:01:54 GMTFri, 03 Feb 2012 19:16:56 GMT http://waynehomes.com/locations/news-events/press-releases/?i=2440Uniontown, OH – Each year during the holidays, Wayne Homes organizes a charity drive called Not-So-Random-Acts of Kindness to benefit local non-profits. This year, as usual, the program made it easy for people to participate in the simple joy of giving. This, in turn, resulted in charitable organizations across the state receiving much-needed money and supplies. Wayne Model Home Centers throughout Ohio and in Pittsburgh were used as drop-off locations, where Wayne customers, trade partners, and members of the community could get into the act. They were encouraged to bring toys, non-perishable food, gently-used clothing and grooming supplies to the easy-in, easy-out drive-by operation. “Instead of writing one corporate check, the goal is to try to get a lot of people to contribute to a variety of causes,” says Maurie Jones, Wayne Homes Vice President of Marketing “Some charities receive money, some get actual gifts.” Through drop-offs, Wayne employees and families collected over $3,400. Not bad for a five-week drive. The Salvation Army and Haven of Rest each received $500 with $1,000 going to OPEN M – the Opportunity for People Everywhere in Need Ministry. The rest of the “drive-by” money was used to purchase Christmas presents for a dozen children in the Doylestown United Methodist Church’s Share a Christmas program. Then, for every home sold during the holidays Wayne Homes donated $100 to a charity of the homebuyer’s choosing. Again, easy-peasy. $3,700 was raised and 24 deserving local charities were the recipients. “Our customers contributed thousands for local charities,” says Jones. “Just by doing something they were going to do anyway. Who wouldn’t feel good about that?” At Wayne Homes, giving doesn’t stop with Not-So-Random-Acts of Kindness. Charity is an idea that is woven into the homebuilder’s company culture. Employees are given paid time off to volunteer in their communities. And more charity events take place throughout the year. In fact, next month Wayne is hosting the Chili Open, a winter golf tournament played in the cold and snow. Last year over 400 competitors turned out for the annual event, raising enough money to send 1,700 special needs kids to summer camp. “That’s what it’s really all about,” Jones adds. “Always finding new ways to give back to the community and have some fun doing it.” About Wayne Homes The task of constructing a home from the ground up is made less daunting thanks to Wayne Homes’ four decades of experience, streamlined process and exceptional personal service. They help customers through every step — from home-site prep and financing to choosing from numerous combinations of floorplans, features and finishes. The result is a home of extremely high quality that perfectly suits the homeowner’s needs. Homes range from 1,300 to 3,500 square feet and from the $80s to $200s (plus land cost). Learn more about building a custom, energy-efficient home by dropping by one of the company’s eight model home centers or by visiting WayneHomes.com  Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:36:00 GMT http://waynehomes.com/locations/news-events/press-releases/?i=2390Uniontown, OH – Listening to customers is part of the culture at Wayne Homes. It allows the on-your-lot homebuilder to customize any of their home designs specifically to a customer’s needs. It turns out, they’re not just listening, they’re redesigning entire homes according to what they hear from their customers. Case in point, the Saratoga. The four-bed, two-and-a-half bath, two-story floor plan is a longtime customer favorite. Now, it’s not only bigger by more than a couple hundred square feet at 2,770, it is brighter and airier. “Wayne customers have, well, other Wayne customers to thank for the new design,” says Maurie Jones, Wayne Homes’ Vice President of Marketing. “Their suggestions made a very good home even better.” Homebuyers tore down walls, figuratively speaking, and opened things up. The new floor plan does this by default. The second floor overlooks both the two-story foyer and the now-bigger great room. Meanwhile, the great room opens to the breakfast room and new larger kitchen with oversized island, more cabinet space, walk-in pantry, work desk, and great room serving area. The powder room has been moved to a more central location, the living room can be optioned into a den, the laundry room is more functional, all the bedrooms are larger, including the master, which has a bigger walk-in closet. Even the garage is bigger, with more space for storage or a workshop. “That’s just a sampling of the many Saratoga changes,” Jones says. “What hasn’t changed is the fact that customers can take the design and continue to tweak it even further and make it their own.” About Wayne Homes The task of constructing a home from the ground up is made less daunting thanks to Wayne Homes’ four decades of experience, streamlined process and exceptional personal service. They help customers through every step — from home-site prep and financing to choosing from numerous combinations of floor plans, features and finishes. The result is a home of extremely high quality that perfectly suits the homeowner’s needs. Homes range from 1,300 to 3,500 square feet and from the $80s to $200s (plus land cost). Learn more about building a custom, energy-efficient home by dropping by one of the company’s eight model home centers or by visiting WayneHomes.com. Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:04:00 GMT http://waynehomes.com/locations/news-events/press-releases/?i=2375Uniontown, OH – Every year at this time Wayne Homes brings the community together and makes the holidays brighter for those in need. The homebuilder calls it, “Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness.” And the idea is to help a variety of charities in Ohio and Pittsburgh by getting everyone involved: homebuyers, Wayne Homes employees and trade partners; and the general public. “The slow-moving economic recovery is why, more than ever, people need to pitch in and help local charities,” says Bill Post, Wayne Homes Principal and Chief Operating Officer. “So we just try to make it easier for people to help their fellow humans.” Each Wayne Homes Model Center becomes a drop-off point for contributions to a selected local charity. Depending on the charity, the public is encouraged to bring everything from clothing and food to school supplies and hygienic products. The charities benefitting from this year’s drive include The Battered Women’s Shelter of Summit and Medina Counties, Ashland County Toys for Tots, Erie County Children’s Services, Portage County Toys for Tots, The YES Club, Alicia’s Voice, and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “You’d be surprised how many people really want to contribute,” says Post, “By giving people central drop-off locations and detailed instructions on what to bring, it makes the whole process painless and even fun.” Wayne customers get into the action simply by buying a home, something they wanted to do anyway. Wayne makes a $100 contribution to the buyer’s charity of choice when the customer signs a contract before the end of the year. This year, in addition to the annual intra-corporate-office competition to raise money for charity, the departments are engaged in a fierce food-donation-box decorating contest. Holiday box photos can be found on Wayne Homes’ Facebook page and “like” votes will determine the winner. Voting is open to everyone. The winners get pizza. “Decorating the food collection boxes is just a fun way to get people excited about the food-drive,” says Maurie Jones, Wayne Homes’ Marketing Vice President. “And help get the word out.” Meanwhile these festive boxes, and many others, are filling with non-perishable food to support OPEN M, the Opportunity for People Everywhere in Need Ministry. OPEN M is a faith-based non-profit that helps people in the Akron area living with minimal resources. OPEN M’s goal is to collect 2,350 food items: cans of beef stew, peas, pork-and-beans; jars of spaghetti sauce, peanut butter and jelly; packages of hamburger helper, rice dinners, pasta; and staples like bags of sugar and vegetable oil. Wayne hopes to help them get there. Information on Model Home Center drop-off locations can be found at WayneHomes.com/not-so-random-acts. About Wayne Homes The task of constructing a home from the ground up is made less daunting thanks to Wayne Homes’ four decades of experience, streamlined process and exceptional personal service. They help customers through every step — from home-site prep and financing to choosing from numerous combinations of floorplans, features and finishes. The result is a home of extremely high quality that perfectly suits the homeowner’s needs. Homes range from 1,300 to 3,500 square feet and from the $80s to $200s (plus land cost). Learn more about building a custom, energy-efficient home by dropping by one of the company’s eight model home centers or by visiting WayneHomes.com.  Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:11:00 GMT http://waynehomes.com/locations/news-events/press-releases/?i=2360Uniontown, OH – Another Wayne Homes Open House season has come and gone. This year, the Open House program featured 54 Open House events with more than 400 families in attendance. The Open Houses offer homebuyers a chance to see, up close and personal, homes under construction or nearing completion. It gives families a sense for how their favorite Wayne home design will look and feel and it often helps them make a decision. “Not only does the program showcase some of the floorplans that don’t exist as model homes,” says Maurie Jones, Wayne Homes’ Marketing Vice President, “it is useful in giving customers ideas on how they can customize and finish their own homes. In fact some homebuyers, like Doug and Jane Radabaugh previewed a few Open Houses before ever stepping foot into a Wayne Model Home Center and meeting with a New Home Consultant. David and Lindsey Miller drove over two hours to see the Montgomery floor plan in Open House form and they said it was worth every mile. They plan to make the exact same customizations to their own Wayne home. How important does Wayne think these Open Houses are to their customers and potential customers? Gas cards worth $25 were given out as door prizes as a way to encourage families to make the drive to see these homes. Some families come from long distances to see the Open Houses. While some live right down the street and curiosity gets the best of them. They usually leave impressed and maybe a little envious. The Open Houses are also a chance to comparison shop. Homebuyers get to talk to Wayne customers about the homebuilding process and their experience with Wayne. At the Moundsville Open House in West Virginia, for example, several people who attended had been considering another builder. Emphasis on “had been.” Homeowners for most of the Open Houses stuck around to answer questions and, of course, receive compliments on their in-progress homes. They even made new friends in the process. Such as the proud Washington Open House owners, whose boys played with every kid that stopped by with their parents. And nothing says Open House and welcome to the Wayne Homes family like kids playing together in the yard. About Wayne Homes The task of constructing a home from the ground up is made less daunting thanks to Wayne Homes’ four decades of experience, streamlined process and exceptional personal service. They help customers through every step — from home-site prep and financing to choosing from numerous combinations of floorplans, features and finishes. The result is a home of extremely high quality that perfectly suits the homeowner’s needs. Homes range from 1,300 to 3,500 square feet and from the $80s to $200s (plus land cost). Learn more about building a custom, energy-efficient home by dropping by one of the company’s eight model home centers or by visiting WayneHomes.com.  Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:02:00 GMT http://waynehomes.com/locations/news-events/press-releases/?i=2352Uniontown, OH – Wayne Homes held a costume contest and nobody came. Then again, nobody had to because all the entries took the form of photos posted to the homebuilder’s Facebook page. Kids dressed up as everything from Tommy the Train to Bat Girl. They had traditional Halloween fun in their own neighborhoods but still got to participate in what was essentially a multi-state contest. Thanks, of course, to the diligent parents who went online and uploaded the snapshots. The four categories included: Judge’s Choice, ages zero to 9 and 10 to15; and People’s Choice, ages zero to 9 and 10 to 15. Naturally, the People’s Choice entries were voted on via Facebook. Each winner was given their pick of a $50 gift card to either Best Buy or Toys R Us. The winners were also announced on Facebook. Taking top honors in the People’s Choice zero to 9 category, Hayden Bonar, 1, of West Virginia, was dressed as a (not so) Big Bird from Sesame Street. His parents John and Amanda, who built a home with Wayne just this year, showed him the photos online. “Look, that’s me,” he repeated. The talkative toddler says he’ll use his Best Buy gift card on a game he wants. Winning the 10 to 15 People’s Choice award was another bird, Sierra Higby, 10, of Michigan. Her homemade peacock costume featured actual peacock plumage. Her mom, Penni Schild, said Sierra was so proud of winning she actually lost sleep. She chose the Toys R Us gift card. Judge’s Choice zero to 9 went to two-year-old Mollie Case, daughter of Bobbie and Jeff Case of Wauseon, Ohio. The Minnie Mouse-clad Case chose the Toys R Us prize. While Megan Sprankle of Ohio, can add Judges Choice 10 to 15 and $50 at Toys R Us to her usual bag of candy. Her parents, Melissa and David, helped her pull off the perfect Southern Belle. To see all the photos from the Halloween Costume Contest simply log on to Wayne Homes’ Facebook page and visit the photos section. About Wayne Homes The task of constructing a home from the ground up is made less daunting thanks to Wayne Homes’ four decades of experience, streamlined process and exceptional personal service. They help customers through every step — from home-site prep and financing to choosing from numerous combinations of floorplans, features and finishes. The result is a home of extremely high quality that perfectly suits the homeowner’s needs. Homes range from 1,300 to 3,500 square feet and from the $80s to $200s (plus land cost). Learn more about building a custom, energy-efficient home by dropping by one of the company’s eight model home centers or by visiting WayneHomes.com.  Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:50:00 GMT