April may be called "the cruelest month", but it has been a sweet one for Maryland Chapter 16. For those of you that missed it, we were honored with a visit from our National President, Pam Monroe, CPM. Pam took time out of her busy schedule (having just returned from an IREM sponsored trip to India!) to visit us on April 8th and 9th. Pam arrived in the afternoon on the 8th. Pam, Richard Escalante, CPM, Programs Chair, and I conducted an ODIE visit with local developer Sam Himmelrich. For those of you who don't know about the ODIE program, ODIE stands for Owners, Developers, Investors, Employers, and is an outreach program targeting those individuals that would employ IREM members. It involves a meeting with one of those individuals, usually with a senior IREM officer, and a discussion about how IREM can best serve them. We met with Sam at Montgomery Park, one of his projects. Those of you who attended the February meeting remember the great anecdotes Sam shared with us about redeveloping that building and the wonderful tour. Sam was gracious enough to take us on a personalized tour as well. At the end, Sam asked how IREM could help his company and his employees and Pam was ready with some wonderful suggestions. Let's hope to see some of Sam's employees at our next lunch meeting at Nick's Fish House on Tuesday, May 12th.
Pam and I then met the rest of the Executive Council at The Rusty Scupper for our regularly scheduled Executive Council meeting, prior to our dinner that evening. In total, 58 people attended the dinner, and from all indications, a good time was had by all! During the entire evening Pam was available for questions regarding IREM, and how the economy is affecting real estate, and what IREM is doing to address the current economic situation. She was then gracious enough to address the group a a whole about those matters. Also, one of our newest members, Alisa Odeh, ARM was installed by Pam, with our RVP, Todd Willet, CPM at her side. A rare treat for any of our members.
The next morning, along with President-Elect, Amy Borgerding, CPM, I picked Pam up for our second ODIE visit with COPT Property Management's COO, Roger Waesche. We talked with Roger about the benefits of not only hiring CPM members but of promoting IREM education for his staff. I will be following up with Roger and Sam in the next couple of weeks to extend invitations to them and their employees to our next meetings. We drove Pam back to her hotel, thanked her for her graciousness and attentiveness to the needs of our chapter, and wished her well on her drive back to New Jersey.
This week Amy Borgerding and I are attending the IREM Leadership and Legislative Summit in Washington, DC. We are joining other chapter leaders for meetings on best practices, a meeting of the IREM Governing Council, and most importantly, a visit to our representatives on Capital Hill. On Wednesday, April 22nd there will be meetings with Reps. Bartlett, Edwards, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes, Kratovil, and Hoyer, and also Senator Cardin. During these meetings IREM and CCIM Institute members will lobby on the following issues: (1) carried interest, (2) energy efficient buildings, and (3) commercial mortgage market liquidity. I am excited to be part of this effort on behalf of our chapter members and am looking forward to reporting back to all of you on how it all went!
Please check out the information regarding the Maryland Chapter 16 Past Presidents' Grant Fund criteria and application form which have been added to the website. During these economic times our chapter remains committed to helping our members through. Please take a look and if you could benefit from what we can offer, please contact us. Please tell others about this program also.
We received the following email from IREM National that I think is relevant to pass onto our members as a reminder that IREM is continuously promoting our credentials, whether you realize it or not.
