PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Unlike the United States of America NH CIBOR will install a woman as its next President. Kathy DeMello will take over the reins as of January 1st and I have no doubt she will do a wonderful job. Under her guidance, and that of President-Elect Ralph Valentine, NH CIBOR will continue to strive to add value to its members through political advocacy, education, technology and collaboration.
We will continue our collaborations with the NH Department of Resources and Economic Development (DRED) to help market our State’s commercial properties such as with their website www.choosenh.com which is populated by our member’s listings. We are also looking to discover ways to make it easier to conduct the business of commercial real estate in New Hampshire; a strategy session between NH CIBOR and DRED is scheduled for later this month.
Our work with the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has been very successful to date utilizing grants for Commercial Development and Smart Growth forums. With the installation of NH CIBOR member Tom Riley as NAR Treasurer, Gerry O’Connell as President-Elect of the NH Realtors and my appointment to the State and Local Issues Mobilization Committee we are well-positioned to significantly increase our grant utilization for new projects, programs and the support of public policies that benefit and enhance the NH’s commercial real estate industry.
We continue to make improvements to the New England Commercial Property Exchange (NECPE) and the Catylist software it utilizes for our property listings. In January, members will be able to turn on their IDX feed allowing their properties to be more widely marketed, we are working on a cooperating agreement with The Warren Group www.thewarrengroup.com for robust data supply and we’re actively exploring ideas the New England Real Estate Network (NEREN) for a shared search platform. Longstanding NH CIBOR member John Jackman will become President of NEREN in 2018.
We held our November Board meeting at the University of New Hampshire, Paul School for Business. The Paul School has developed an excellent real estate track for students in their finance program. We hope to work with UNH to provide information and personnel for case studies, enlist their help in designing a formal NH CIBOR commercial real estate education curriculum and we are setting up a website portal whereby students looking for real estate internships can query our members.
Several of our members attended the NAR Annual Conference last month and we were pleased with the number of commercial courses and seminars offered. We felt the content was well-presented and useful and many of these programs can be accessed by all Realtor® members via the NAR website www.realtor.org.
Don’t forget to sign up for this year’s NH CIBOR Holiday Party. Not only will the new slate of officers be sworn in but festivities include food, drink, raffles, prizes, a caricaturist and Dueling Pianos! Please contact Allison Ropes allison@nhcibor.com for information about attending and/or sponsoring the event.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your 2016 President. I learned a lot, made many new friends and consider it time well spent. I strongly encourage all members to get involved and I’m happy to speak with any of you about it. Happy Holidays and have a great 2017.
Bob Marchewka
As I was writing this letter I was informed of the passing Neal Barrett, a long time, committed member of NH CIBOR, our board and many committees. Neal was instrumental in developing and providing continuing education courses specifically for NH commercial real estate practitioners. He spent countless hours interacting with the NH Real Estate Commission on our behalf and played a significant part in shaping NH CIBOR’s public policy goals and strategies. He was a great source of information and the go-to person for questions about real estate rules and regulations. He deftly navigated the myriad laws and code of conduct we are all subject to and helped us comprehend them in ways a commercial realtor could understand. He will be known for carrying out his duties as a broker, educator and friend with broad knowledge, expert skill, sincere kindness and a wry sense of humor. He will be sorely missed and impossible to replace.