Happy May! Spring is finally here. It is a little easier to feel good and be happy when the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and houses are selling. Am I right? There is a lot of activity happening across the state. I know you are busy, so I wanted to take a few minutes to quickly share with you some of the exciting things taking place since my last update.
At the beginning of the year, I challenged you to “Be Better.” I am happy to report just a few of the ways we are being better, both as individual REALTORS® and collectively as the Missouri REALTORS®.
Our new Advocacy Plan, introduced in January 2014, has already seen much success in just a few months.
THE POWER OF THE REALTOR® PARTY
Through the outreach of our Regional Advocacy Coordinators working with Local Boards we have had four associations apply for Coordinated Campaign Grants to elect local REALTOR® Party Champions. Three of which had never before applied! Additionally, two Local Boards applied for and received grants to support ballot initiatives to improve school districts in their communities. These campaigns led to 7 out of 10 REALTOR® Party victories on Election Day, April 8. Collectively, we are making our schools, our neighborhoods and our communities better!
RAISING FUNDS FOR RPAC
April 23-25 was our April Business Conference in St. Louis. If you couldn’t make it, you missed a great time! One of the highlights was our record-breaking 7th Annual Marge Pfaff RPAC Auction. Thanks to our generous members and Local Boards, we raised over $46,000 to invest in the Missouri REALTOR® Party. Shout out to all who donated items, purchased items, attended and volunteered to make this the most successful Missouri REALTORS® RPAC Auction yet! We’re making RPAC bigger and yep – BETTER!
These numbers speak for themselves, but we can’t always so easily quantify the efforts of individual members that are working hard to better our industry every day.
HONORING ONE OF OUR OWN
I recently found out about an honor bestowed upon of one of our long-time members Cecil Lovett and was able to highlight his accomplishments at our Board of Director’s meeting. Cecil served in both the Korean and Vietnam War. He served at Camp David under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson. After a full career in public service, Cecil started a career in real estate. He now owns and operates three real estate offices in North Kansas City. Cecil’s life has been dedicated to serving; first his country and now Missouri home owners. The Missouri House of Representatives recognized Cecil’s service by awarding him with the Outstanding Missourian Award. Only three Missourians in the last four years have received this award. And one of them was our own.
It doesn’t get much BETTER than that. Way to go, Cecil! And thank you for your service.
If you’ve been striving to be better and make a difference, I want to hear about it. I’d love to share your work and encourage others to be better as well. Similarly, if you know of a REALTOR going out of their way to do more, let me know so we can highlight their work.
We are almost half-way through the year and what we have accomplished since January is amazing. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve in the next few months.
OPPORTUNITIES TO BE BETTER
Be sure and mark your calendars for these upcoming events:
At THE SUMMIT you’ll have the opportunity to better yourself through education, industry updates and networking. Schedule of events and registration information will be available soon on THE LANDING.
Ride for the American Dream and enjoy the scenic views of the beautiful Ozarks, have some fun with fellow REALTORS® from Region IX and invest in RPAC while you do it! Go ahead and register now.
Jim
2014 President
Missouri REALTORS®