In a ceremony at a recent Florida Home Builders meeting in Orlando, the Protecting People First Foundation Safety Award was presented to First Home Builders of Florida, of Cape Coral, Fla., for "leadership in providing passive opening protection, through the use of impact-resistant laminated windows, as a standard feature to first-time home buyers for safer living in hurricane-prone regions." The award was sponsored by Solutia Inc. of St. Louis, who manufactured the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer KeepSafe Maximum® that was used in First Home Builder's impact-resistant windows.

Michael Guyet, purchasing manager with First Home Builders of Florida, accepted the award on his company's behalf.

"We disliked the thought of thousands of First Home homeowners scrambling to find storm panels, properly installing them, or trying to find someone at the last minute to get it done for them," Guyet stated. "After witnessing the devastation that so many Floridians experienced during the '04 hurricane season, we'd rather have our homeowners be able to concentrate on keeping themselves safe without having to worry about securing their homes and belongings."