Ryland Announces New Divisions in Sacramento and California's Central Valley

CALABASAS, Calif., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Ryland Group, Inc. , one of the nation's largest homebuilders, today announced the creation of two new divisions in Sacramento and California's Central Valley. The new operations are the result of continued expansion, which led the company to split its Northern California division.

Ryland Homes has successfully completed sales in six communities throughout Sacramento, the nation's 13th-largest homebuilding market. It has also opened six communities in the Central Valley, including locations in San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced Counties.

"These two new divisions illustrate the success of Ryland's strategy of steady, organic growth in the nation's strongest housing markets," said R. Chad Dreier, Ryland's chairman, president and CEO. "We have the land positions and the talented local management teams in place to continue expanding Ryland's presence in these promising markets."

Mike McKissick, Ryland's Northern California division president, will oversee the development of both divisions as a West region vice president. Over the last five years, McKissick has led the Northern California division to record growth and profit.

Stephanie MacLean, who joined Ryland Homes as the Sacramento division manager in July, has been promoted to division president. MacLean was formerly a senior vice president, business unit manager for KB Home in Sacramento. During her 12 years in homebuilding, she has served as a director of finance and controller for KB Home in Sacramento, Dallas and San Ramon, Calif., and as a controller and superintendent/project manager at Ashton Woods Homes in Dallas. She is a certified public accountant and a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles.

Rich Lange will serve as president of Ryland's Central Valley division. Lange has more than 10 years of experience in homebuilding and real estate development, including serving as vice president of operations for Pulte Homes in Las Vegas and executive vice president and chief financial officer for Lyle Anderson Companies in Scottsdale, Arizona. He founded Lange Golf and Turf, LLC, in Chicago, and spent more than 10 years in public accounting. Lange holds a master's degree from DePaul University, a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, and is a certified public accountant.

With headquarters in Southern California, Ryland is one of the nation's largest homebuilders and a leading mortgage-finance company. The company currently operates in 27 markets across the country and has built more than 245,000 homes and financed more than 205,000 mortgages since its founding in 1967. Ryland is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RYL." Previous news releases may be obtained at http://www.ryland.com/.