Ideal Receives Large Business of the Year - 2010

Ideal Suburban Homes and Ideal Realty receive the Decatur Chamber of Commerce's Large Business of the Year award.

Established in 1959, Ideal Suburban Homes focuses on building entry-level houses for first-time home buyers, Chamber officials said.

In 1961, the late Ralph Biggs assumed leadership of Ideal, which had been founded by his father-in-law, Clark Smith. In 2004, Biggs' son, Kevan, became the chief executive officer and began managing the company.

ISH diversified to create a real estate company called Ideal Realty as well as an investment company called Biggs Inc., which handles development of housing subdivisions and the management of apartments owned and operated by Ideal.

Steve Kreigh, a part owner in the Ideal firms, is Ideal Realty's sales manager and specializes in commercial and investment real estate. Other agents specialize in new home construction and residential sales.

The Chamber said, "Ideal's philosophy is the foundation of all its operations: 'First of all, offer true value for each and every new homebuyer.' Ideal has always worked with the premise that affordable homes need not be inferior in design, appearance, or construction. Instead, the firms want to make certain new homebuyers have invested every dime wisely."

The Chamber added that Ideal Suburban Homes and Ideal Realty have "continued to prosper as they focus on their niche market of providing affordable housing in smaller communities. Rather than plunging into bigger cities, Ideal remains committed to development of smaller communities, such as Decatur, Auburn, Bluffton, Ossian, Huntington, and Columbia City.

Ideal also moved into production of custom-built homes to meet the demands of today's customers. Over the past decade, this move led to development of golf course communities in Decatur, Columbia City, and Hartford City.