by Ann Withanee — October 24, 2011—Leaders and staff of BOMA International and BOMI International recently met to explore areas of mutual interest where they could work together while driving commercial real estate initiatives. The range of topics included training future talent, developing careers in real estate and meeting the emerging educational needs of the existing workforce.
The two organizations can together provide an impetus to enhance the profession and its practitioners during these challenging times. Bringing together areas of interest will not only strengthen the profession, it also will help attract and educate a new stream of professionals.
“We share a marketplace that is constantly changing for our respective members and students,” said BOMA International Chair Boyd R. Zoccola, executive vice president, Hokanson Companies Inc. “It makes a lot of sense for us to work together to enhance the property management profession and to provide the training that will create high performance companies.”
“Future professionals in the real estate management industry will demand training in ways just being imagined today,” stated BOMI International Chair Dolores Bocian. “BOMI International”s mandate is to ensure that both our educational content, as well as the methods through which we deliver content, reflect and meet the needs of current and future students. Working with BOMA in recognizing future trends in real estate management will help us prepare our students for the challenges of tomorrow.”
As a result of the meeting, four areas of initial collaboration were identified to explore:
- Leverage resources and events to attract talent to careers in real estate.
- Build training and education offerings and networking for asset managers.
- Work on ways to help returning military veterans find training, jobs and networking communities.
- Market and publicize the value of the property management profession.
The organizations will dedicate resources in pursuit of these four initiatives beginning this fall. As progress is made in these areas both groups will report back to enlist the help of their constituencies. There were other areas discussed and it is the intention of both groups to work on this relationship to create value for respective members, students and customers.
BOMI International is an international provider of educational products and services to the property and facilities management industries. As the Independent Institute for Property and Facility Management Education, BOMI International is a not-for-profit educational institute dedicated to improving the skills of professionals with property, facility, and systems responsibilities. More than 26,000 building professionals hold BOMI International’s industry-standard designations: the Real Property Administrator (RPA), Facilities Management Administrator (FMA), Systems Maintenance Administrator (SMA), and Systems Maintenance Technician (SMT) designations. Over 84,000 students have availed themselves of the organization’s education and training.
BOMA International is an international federation of more than 100 local associations and affiliated organizations. Founded in 1907, its 16,500-plus members own or manage more than nine billion square feet of commercial properties. BOMA International’s mission is to enhance the human, intellectual and physical assets of the commercial real estate industry through advocacy, education, research, standards and information.
