BIZ BITES

Newport home builder gets national recognition

John Laing Homes, a home-building company headquartered in Newport Beach, won the Builder of the Year award in a nationwide survey of home buyers who rated firms on customer service, purchase quality and other factors.

Laing, which builds homes in California, Colorado, Texas and Arizona, finished first in overall customer satisfaction for the third straight year. The firm also took top honors in home readiness, construction, first-year customer service and other categories. Eliant, a building industry research company based in Irvine, conducts the annual survey.

“We consider this a tremendous accomplishment because it means we’re listening to our home buyers and building the houses they want to live in,” Laing CEO Larry Webb said in a news release.

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KOCE names donor relations coordinator

KOCE-TV has appointed Barbara Bond, a former Las Vegas church pastor and PBS veteran, as its donor relations coordinator.

Bond, a Laguna Niguel resident, previously worked as the volunteer and events coordinator for Vegas PBS, managing the station’s docent program and pledge drives and partnering with local businesses to find volunteers and donors.

Prior to her TV career, she was an associate pastor at Tabernacle Life Center and Harvest Rock Church in Las Vegas.

“I believe strongly in PBS as a valuable community service, and KOCE-TV is a station with tremendous potential for the future,” Bond said in a news release. “I am delighted to be a part of this team, and look forward to being a part of the station’s ongoing growth and development.”

— Michael Miller