President's Desk
New Directions
This
year CCIM Institute’s
legislative and international initiatives are taking off in new directions.
CCIM is aligning our annual Capitol Hill Visit with the National Association of
Realtors’
Realtors Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., May 11–16.
There is increased power in numbers: A few thousand Realtors attend NAR’s event, meeting with lawmakers to discuss
critical issues that are impacting the real estate industry. Your attendance at
Capitol Hill and your participation at the local and state Realtor association
level can help to highlight commercial issues. An interview with CCIM’s Legislative Affairs Subcommittee Chair Lou
Nimkoff, CCIM, on p.12, provides more details on this year’s visit.
Another
way CCIM is affecting policy at the federal level is our participation in the
Washington, D.C.-based Real Estate Roundtable. I was invited to join this
premier organization, which addresses national policy issues concerning
commercial real estate and the general economy. By sending me your stories of
regulatory and legislative issues that affect your business, you can help us
prepare for these high-level discussions.
The
second initiative under way is the re-launching of CCIM Institute’s international program. Leadership and members
of the International Activities Committee met in Phoenix in February to discuss
CCIM’s
current and future global presence. I also attended a real estate forum in
Taiwan organized by the Taiwan CCIM Chapter that drew 900 real estate professionals.
Clearly, interest in the CCIM program exists in markets outside the U.S.
Helping us to tap into that global interest is our participation at MIPIM, the
international property market event in Cannes, France, in March.
And
finally, I would like to introduce CCIM Institute’s new Executive Vice President/CEO Walter S.
Clements, CCIM, who joined us in January. Walt is a long-time CCIM member and
senior instructor, well known to many of you. Turn to p.48 to read his thoughts
about the future of the CCIM Institute.
Mark
Macek, CCIM
2015
CCIM Institute President
mark@macekco.com