Royal builder

When he was an executive with First Home Builders of Florida in 2006, Ryan Benson experienced the housing boom firsthand.

They're lessons Benson and business partner Andy Bringardner bring to A. Vernon Allen Builder, a custom homebuilder celebrating 65 years in business. Company principal John Remington tapped both 30-something executives to be the newest generation of owners of the company.

“I had 220 employees and was overseeing permit issuance through the middle of construction,” Benson recalls.