Top 10 Highlights in 2017

2017 Top 10 Highlights

2017 was a successful year for BOMA. Below are the Top 10 Highlights of the year:

1. Our Emerging Professional (EP) and Mentor Program in 2017 surpassed all previous year’s efforts and is recognized throughout the larger BOMA enterprise as one of the best if not the best early career assistance and on-boarding efforts. We have two dozen active mentor/mentee pairings and conducted an EP connection and/or learning event on average every other month. Our EP group planned and executed one of our general lunch meetings this year further integrating them within BOMA. In addition, our largest number of local EPs yet attended the BOMA international convention in Nashville and also Olympia Day.
2. We conducted our first and very successful Women in Commercial Real Estate event that far exceeded our participation goals and members rated the event valuable and successful and expressed a desire for repeating the concept annually. 
3. BOMA offered over 226 hours (a record) in education and training classes, workshops and seminars - the vast majority for real estate clock hours. In an effort to easily have eastside members attend, BOMA held more classes in Bellevue including Power Hours, Engineer Skills Hours and seminars. The Education Committee put together a successful and timely seminar titled, Armed Intruder/Active Shooter which brought in 90 attendees - a record attendance number in 2017 for a single seminar. In 2017 more students enrolled in a designation or certificate program compared to last year and a total of 16 students graduated with their BOMI designation in 2017.
4. We developed additional funding for the BOMA PAC - reversing a decline and restoring the needed resources to get both our message to lawmakers and support the election of business minded elected officials. 
5. In the 2017 state legislative session, two BOMA sponsored and promoted bills were passed into law, the best we have done in years. This was supported by the largest BOMA member participation in Advocacy Day with over 50 members meeting with their lawmakers to help inform them about our issues and the bills we support. 
6. In 2017, BOMA fully engaged in an unplanned community outreach project – the Bellevue’s Men’s Shelter facility upgrade – bring through the generosity and good will of our members as much as $100,000 in donated time and materials and cash to the project. This project involved many volunteer hours and has been the most significant community outreach to date. In 2018 BOMA will endeavor to support a women’s outreach program. 
7. We successfully completed the first phases of our three-year plan to raise awareness about careers in commercial real estate with the goal to helping increase the potential hiring pool for member companies. 
8. We have embarked on a strategy of making Board volunteer time more beneficial to Board members and the organization. By years end we will have a professionally aided rewrite and modernization of the BOMA by-laws to submit to the Board and then membership for approval. In addition, in 2017 we will have modernized BOMA’s bookkeeping procedures that will increase productivity and utilize modern technologies while maintaining proper accounting controls.
9. We grew membership by a net three principal member firms in 2017.
   
10. The BOMA Golf Tournament sold out for the 4th year in a row, and earlier than ever. Be sure to register early in 2018!  In 2017, BOMA events had great attendance and a high turnout from Emerging Professionals. Connections were made, best practices were shared and relationships were built.