2006 C/I Education Committee Report

120 hours of Commercial Continuing Education scheduled for 2006

By Matt McConnell, Chair
C/I Education Committee

As Chair of the 2006 C/I Education Committee, it has been my privilege to oversee the introduction, organization, development, and presentation of quality, C/I practitioner-oriented educational opportunities for the members of the Columbus Board of REALTORS® (CBR).

As of June 1, 2006, the C/I Education Committee has offered 10 credit hours of continuing education focused on commercial real estate, in addition to 42 hours of COCIE CDX training.

Four C/I Luncheons have provided one hour of continuing education credit on topics such as: tenants in common, government financial incentives, sustainable design, and an update on the Ohio Department of Transportation's efforts to improve Central Ohio's Interstate systems. The ODOT luncheon was held off-site in May in The Columbus Room on the 16th floor of the Franklin County Courthouse, overlooking the I-70/71 split, which was one of the featured topics of the presentation.

In addition, there were two, three-hour continuing education courses that concentrated on commercial issues. Commercial Real Estate Core Law (core law) was offered in March and a new course covering ethical topics for the C/I Practitioner (ethics) was offered in April. The Commercial Real Estate Core Law course was a successful partnership between CBR, CCIIR, and SIOR and featured a turnout of nearly 100 agents. Special thanks are in order to Jim Coridan and Rick Mann for organizing and presenting this high profile event at the CBR Headquarters. The Ethics for the C/I Practitioner course was a brand new course this year. Special thanks go out to Belinda Ohlinger for developing and instructing this course.

For the second half of the year, we plan to offer an additional ten, 1 to 2 hour luncheons and six, 3-hour courses, in addition to COCIE CDX training. COCIE CDX training will continue at a rate of two, 3- hour courses per month through the end of 2006.

In response to comments from 2005 luncheon attendees, we will continue to provide community development updates in 2006. Community updates for Grove City, Union County, Dublin, and Hilliard will be covered by year-end.

Additional luncheon topics include environmental site assessments, C/I purchase contract, Rickenbacker Intermodal Facility, Delaware County Auditor's website, title process, and Columbus Fiber Net.

The environmental site assessment luncheon will be a two-hour event on August 30, 2006. Instructors John Magill, Deputy Director of the Office of Urban Development in the Ohio Department of Development, and Atul Pandey of Pandey Environmental will present the luncheon. Special attention will be paid to the former A.C. Humko site/current Harrison West residential redevelopment.

Member comments from 2005 indicated that off-site luncheons would be welcomed by CBR membership, especially when the topic considers a community development update. Accordingly, the Dublin Community Development Update and the Rickenbacker Intermodal Facility luncheons will be held in appropriate offsite locations. As mentioned previously, the ODOT luncheon was held off-site earlier this year with great success.

The seven, remaining three-hour course offerings will cover topics such as ADA for the C/I practitioner, bankruptcy law as it pertains to the C/I practitioner, understanding the commercial real estate appraisal, tenants in common, green buildings, technology and professional development, and an annual economic outlook. The latter three course topics are currently in the development stage and will be offered as a collaborative effort between CBR and CCIIR. The tenants in common course is under development as a response to membership comments from the C/I luncheon covering the topic in January 2006.

Bricker & Eckler LLP will instruct the bankruptcy course from their downtown offices on the afternoon of November 21, 2006. Some type of "networking hour" is planned to follow this off-site event.

Following the completion of the ADA for the C/I Practitioner (civil rights) threehour course, which has been scheduled for October 17, 2006, the C/I Education Committee will have offered all three of the required continuing education courses (core law, ethics, and civil rights) on site at the CBR Headquarters in 2006. This achievement directly fulfills one of the goals set forth for the committee by CBR leadership at the 2006 Leadership Retreat in January.

Including the course hours associated with COCIE CDX training, the C/I Education Committee is on pace to provide more than 120 hours of continuing education. Not including the course hours related to COCIE CDX training, the C/I Education Committee is scheduled to provide over 40 hours of continuing education directly related to issues facing the C I practitioner. This is a great accomplishment considering the slight decline in committee membership and the fresh, new course offerings that have been and will be provided in 2006.

The C/I luncheon and course offerings are promoted to members of the CBR in a variety of ways (right here in In Contract Magazine, through flyers and promotions during luncheons and courses, and periodically via broadcast e-mail). We hope that the C/I Education Committee continues to successfully serve the membership of the Columbus Board of REALTORS® and we invite each member to take advantage of our insightful educational opportunities. If you feel that you have a passion for developing C/I educational opportunities and or for information on joining the C/I Education Committee, please feel free to contact Lucy Hadley, (614) 475-4000, ext. 240, CBR staff liaison.

Although our committee membership appears to have declined slightly in 2006, the active members have committed additional time and put forth greater effort in order to ensure continued success of this highly regarded committee. I would like to take this opportunity to thank John Chess, Fil Line, Belinda Ohlinger, Jack Schreiner, Peggy Varrone, and Jay Zollars for their active participation on this year's committee. Special recognition is deserving of Lucy Hadley and Amie Tessler, staff members of the CBR. They assist the committee by recording monthly meetings, scheduling all courses and luncheons, and registering class participants, among all of their other important CBRrelated duties. It appears that we are well on our way to a successful 2006 and it has been my pleasure to serve as Chair of the C/I Education Committee.