Hello everyone and welcome to 2019! This year, hopefully, will be remembered as a significant year for HRACRE as our past president, Chris Aebel, led us through a challenging year. Under his leadership, HRARCE is now heading in a very positive direction. So, a very big thank you to Chris. You should already see changes in how HRACRE is operating. The HRACRE leadership feels that these changes are positioning us for significant growth this year. The economy is seemingly forecasted to remain strong for 2019, which is good for the real estate business and should contribute to our success as an organization.
The first change is that HRACRE has engaged Association Builders, a professional association management company, to assist with the day-to-day running of HRACRE. Connie Long, President and CEO of Association Builders, has a strong team including Jeanne Ali, (behind the scenes technical guru), and Amy Cushman, HRACRE’s primary point of contact. Connie and her team stepped into this role in October and are committed to us throughout 2019. If you haven’t met these folks yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. They are nothing but helpful, and together, they bring us all the skills we need to successfully grow in 2019.
The second significant change to HRACRE is our dues structure. Gone is the labor-intensive dues collection based on everyone’s anniversary date of joining HRACRE. Think about the effort needed to track that for our over 500-member organization! Moving to a single point billing/collection system, we have streamlined the dues collection process. We also have converted to a flat rate for each member. While some of you will feel the modest increase over the previous structure, more than half of you will see a decrease in your dues. This coupled with a tiered dues structure for companies having six or more members, will encourage companies to allow more members from their organizations to participate. I am confident that this is the best organization for your dollar in Hampton Roads.
Lastly, thanks go out to our Corporate Membership Committee as well as several of our participating firms for continually raising the bar and contributing significantly to the financial health of HRACRE. I want 2019 to be all about growth. These changes certainly position the organization for growth, in both membership and revenue. It is truly an honor to serve as your 2019 HRACRE President and I am extremely excited to lead us this year. I am humbled to have had the opportunity to be a part of HRACRE for so many years and work side-by-side with many of the brightest, most influential people in our industry. The professional and personal relationships I have formed are life-long and I look forward to making new ones in 2019. Given the strength of our membership and generosity of our volunteers, I have no doubt we will grow stronger in 2019. I want to thank each one of you for the contributions and sacrifices you make that keepHRACRE visible and stronger, and I wish you all a safe, happy and prosperous new year!
Kenneth E. Rodman, Jr., PE
2019 HRACRE Presidentl
