PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - JANUARY 2009

Greetings,

We all seem to make New Year’s resolutions. As president of CREW-St. Louis, here’s the start of one that I plan to keep – staying in touch on a monthly basis with all of you.

Many of you say that you want more information on our direction and accomplishments, especially as discussed and planned at our monthly board meetings.

So here goes my first of 12 missives.
 
First, let me recap some of our major accomplishments last year:

  • Our CREW Careers program continued to establish itself as the premier event to reach young women.
  • The 11th Annual CREW-St. Louis & Safe Connections Golf Tournament was a sell-out and raised nearly $60,000. We now have donated more than one-half million dollars to this worthy cause thanks to the continued success of our marquee charitable event.
  • We had record attendance at our monthly educational and social programs.
  • We added more than 30 new members in 2008, and ended the year nearly 200 strong.

That’s a pretty strong track record, one that required the hard work and dedication of so many members.

As we move into the New Year, we are aware of the challenges that all of us face. I can tell you that we can meet these challenges by working together. This has always been a hallmark of CREW, and the board sees this as more essential than ever as our industry faces challenging times. Consequently, this year’s theme of “Successful Together” is right on target.

You can help turn that theme into action. For starters, we need everyone to promote and encourage sponsorship of CREW-St. Louis. Sponsoring CREW-St. Louis is the best and most cost-efficient way to target key contacts within the commercial real estate industry. Please go online to see the details on sponsorship levels or contact Sara Stock, CREW Sponsorship Chair, at 314-444-7866 or sstock@lewisrice.com to find out more.

I also encourage you to take advantage of all that CREW offers:

Our Fourth Annual CREW-St. Louis Networking Awards luncheon on Feb. 17 at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac certainly showcases one of the primary benefits of membership. Four awards will be presented: Lifetime Achievement, Networking Story of the Year, Deal of the Year and Mentor of the Year.
If you haven’t nominated a fellow CREW member or team of members, please send your nomination to Anne Klene, CREW Awards/Scholarship Chair, at aklene@gundakercommercial.com as soon as possible.
These awards recognize the success of our members and demonstrate the power of networking.

Additionally, there is no better way to get involved than to serve on one of the many committees within our chapter. Serving on a CREW-St. Louis Committee provides an excellent networking opportunity. You’ll get to know your fellow members on a one-on-one basis, and you’ll work as a team to accomplish great things for our chapter and the community.  Click here to see the CREW Committee Chair contacts and get involved today.

I can assure you that we are off to great start in 2009. How we finish will depend on how each of us contributes our time and talent to CREW.

With your help, support and dedication, I’m confident that we will be Successful Together.  If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at 314-259-5828 or agarrison@sonnenschein.com

Best regards,
Amy Garrison
CREW-St. Louis Chapter President

 


 

 

 








 

 

 

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