As the firm pivots to more attainable communities and homes, Webb believes it’s the right time at the right time.
By John McManus | Builder
Massive, 25-plus-foot-high, heavy curtains mask off the backstage of a grand ballroom in the convention center at the Mandalay Bay Resort on the Strip, like any given Las Vegas hotel convention center, on any given day. This particular day, in early November 2005, I’m waiting in the semi-dark behind those gigantic thick drapes for my moment on stage.
Back there in the dimness, amid a tangle of lighting and sound and video cables, a fellow I’d only heard about up to that point extends his hand to me. “I know who you are, John McManus,” he says, “I’m Larry Webb.”
I know he’s Larry Webb. My moment on stage was to salute Larry Webb as the late Big Builder magazine’s executive of the year for his leadership at John Laing Homes, one of the literally countless industry awards Larry has been honored to accept. Sensing my stage fright as we’re about to pop out to the podium, Larry says to me, “Take off those f—ing glasses. Let the people out there see you, John McManus, for who you are.”
