2019: “Mission Accomplished”
2019 has been a ground-breaking year for the Cobb Association of REALTORS® Members, Leadership and Staff. As a unified and focused team, we have met and exceeded the high standards of our Mission, which is “To advance the Rights of Property Owners, the Prosperity of our Community, the Integrity of our Profession, and the Success of our Members”.
Here is a summary of the landmark achievements we have realized, in keeping with President Bruce Ailion’s 2019 theme, “Better Together”.
MEMBERSHIP
Our Membership has grown consistently from 2015 through 2019, across all Membership Categories!
Total Membership has grown from 1635 in October, 2015 to 2136 in October 2019. Average Annual Growth since 2015 has been 7.0%.
We saw substantial increases from both the Realtor® base and our tremendous Affiliates! You all are what makes this organization great!
RPAC FUNDRAISING
To say that 2019 has been an exceptional year for RPAC Fundraising at CAR is an understatement.
The RPAC Fundraising Goal assigned to us by NAR
was $49,400. Well, CAR said hold my beer…
Under the leadership of Government Affairs VP Sierra Westrick and RPAC Chair Wendy Gravlin Chambers, three fundraising events raised over $72,000!
These phenomenal results were the result of a Major Investor Dinner, with 26 MI Pledges vs. 18 in 2018, and the Fall Jamboree and Auction RPAC investments totaling $24,000, vs $14,000 in 2018.
GETTING INVOLVED
40 CAR Members attended Legislative Day at the Golden Dome in Atlanta meeting 8 State Senators and Representatives to discuss key issues such as School Tax Exemptions for Seniors in Cobb, HOA Closing Letter Fees & Cityhood proposals in East and South Cobb.
14 CAR Members traveled to Washington DC in May for NAR Legislative Day at the US Capitol. Discussions included National Flood Insurance, Health Insurance for Associations, Fannie and Freddie Reform and Fair Housing. While there, Rep. Barry Loudermilk gave CAR VP of Government Affairs Sierra Westrick the opportunity to emphatically voice why so many REALTORS® make the trip to DC.
Charitable Involvement
Safepath Children’s Advocacy Center
Through the efforts of Golf Chair Brenda Hardage, Real Estate Expo Chair Lindsay Moss-Frangie and MMDC Chair Leah Stankiewicz and their Committees, CAR was able to raise $7000 on behalf of SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center, whose mission is “A Community Free of Child Abuse”. In addition, CAR contributed $500 to fund the necessary equipment to allow SafePath to create a program to prevent child exploitation, which was supported by Community Outreach Chair Demetrius Lockett and VP of Finance and Administration Elizabeth Manning.
To show their appreciation, SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center presented our Association with their “VIP Award”, recognizing our contributions not only to SafePath, but to the Cobb County Community as a whole.
Habitat For Humanity
Our second straight year of Habitat for Humanity builds in Cobb County made the front page of The Marietta Daily Journal touting the charitable work of our CAR Members and staff of CAR Gold Affiliate Partner Ameris Bank. The new home build went to Mr. Olin Hanner in Mableton, The $10,000 for the project was raised through our MMDC, Golf and Affiliate Committees, Chaired by Leah Stankiewicz, Brenda Hardage and Lindsay Moss-Frangie, respectively.
Bruce Ailion, 2019 CAR President and build participant said, “An important element of our Association mission is to advance the prosperity of our Cobb County community. And given our profession, we can think of no better way to do that than to fund and participate with NW Metro Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. And we are deeply appreciative of our friends and Gold Affiliate Partner Ameris Bank, led by VP Stacie Riddle, for their support and active engagement.”
Must Ministries
6500 Lunches Assembled and Delivered to Kids Who Need Them!
Over 30 community-minded CAR Members, friends and family gathered at our offices for a great cause: bagging and delivering Bag Lunches in support of Must Ministries’ effort to feed kids in Cobb County who would otherwise go hungry when school is out.
The effort was organized and coordinated by Community Outreach Committee Chair Demetrius Lockett and his Committee Members. Said Demetrius, “It is efforts like these which show that our Association and its Members are not just about selling real estate. Importantly, we take the time to give back to our Community, and ensure that Cobb County is a great and supportive place to live.”
Jeanne Linden Scholarship Donations
As we do each year, CAR was able to fund six $1000 College Scholarships for deserving students who were recommended by OUR REALTOR® Members. The funding for these donations came from our Members during the Dues Billing process. Plus, this year, the Golf Committee Chaired by Brenda Hardage was able to contribute over $800 from their 2019 tournament, which will kick-start our fundraising for the 2020 Jeanne Linden Scholarship donations.
See our winners here.
Cobb Christmas Toy Donations
As always the incredible generosity of our members was on display again this year. Attendees at our 2020 Installation and Awards Luncheon donated over 100 toys to Cobb Christmas, whose mission is to ensure that families and kids in need will have toys under the tree this year.
AWARD WINNING VIDEO
The Georgia Association of REALTORS® (GAR) Cultural Diversity Committee announced a contest challenging each local Association to create a video which honored the 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. And at the GAR Board of Directors Meeting on September 6, it was announced that the winner was the Cobb Association of REALTORS®!
The video was shown at the Board Meeting, and as it concluded, the whole room erupted in a spontaneous and heartfelt standing ovation! It was an amazing moment!
The video conveyed our REALTOR® commitment to the tenets of the Fair Housing Act, but in addition, clearly noted that our and the REALTOR® Code of Ethics goes above and beyond The Fair Housing Act, by specifically stating that familial status, disabilities, sexual orientation or gender identity will never be subject to discrimination in our business.
Our thanks to Phyliss Graham (instigator and leader), Chris Lazarus (videographer), Derek Van Dam (voiceover artist), Barry Arnold (scriptwriter), our friends at Lennar for providing the venue, and the many CAR Members who were featured in the video.
Other Events
Under the leadership of Education Chair Chris Lazarus, our Cobb Institute of Real Estate school scheduled 14 Lunch and Learn sessions, and 38 Classroom CE courses in 2019, offering 111 CE Hours of Designation and other CE Courses for our Members and Non-Members as well.
Thanks to our Membership, YPN and Affiliate Committees, chaired by Lauren Raper, Oscar Melara, Jr. and Lindsay Moss-Frangie, respectively, our Association calendar has been packed with exciting events to engage and entertain our Members. With the new format of quarterly meetings, attendance was up & costs were down!Speakers included Cobb Commission Chair Mike Boyce, New FMLS President Jeremy Crawford, a panel discussion on Deal Killers with Lindsay Moss-Frangie of JG Wentworth, Scott Murphy of DS Murphy and Christina Pritz of the Dickason Law Group and GAR Deputy Director of Government Affairs Brad Mock.
The Young Professionals Network (YPN) held a number of fun and engaging events, organized by Chair Oscar Melara, Jr. and his YPN Committee.
- The “Just-Plain-Fun” Membership gathering at Keegan’s Irish Pub in Woodstock. was an event that was just plain fun – networking, music food, drink and prizes.
- A tour of Dobbins Air Reserve Base was a huge hit as guests were given an exclusive and personal overview of the Base, its operations and responsibilities by Brig. General Kemble. Then we went out on the tarmac to not only see but GO INSIDE the C130’s parked there, and then, a trip around the barracks where new recruits are prepared mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually for their service.
- Affiliate Events included the CAR Real Estate Expo at the Cobb County Civic Center, providing our REALTOR® Members and members of the public with access to 55 real estate industry professionals who play important roles in the home buying/selling process. We also had a blast tailgating with BBQ & a Braves game!
It was a tremendous year – Thank You Members & Affiliates!
To read a complete breakdown of how we accomplished our 2019 mission, download the document here.