To Merge or Not to Merge?

Of course, another marked difference between OPAAR and MORe is the size of the associations. At more than 14,400 members, MORe is the fourth-largest association in the U.S., with only the associations in Houston, Miami and Long Island being larger. Though Corder says the association’s geographical sprawl can prove troublesome for planning events (after all, MORe has members as far east as the Indiana border and as far south as the Kankakee area) she nonetheless loves the immense size of the association for one main reason – the opportunities its financials allow. Because MORe’s budget, which is $8.4 million for 2012-2013, is so large, the association is able to develop programs and technological offerings for its members that other, smaller associations (such as OPAAR) would be unable to fund, with Custom Built and Realtor Excellence being only the most recent examples.

MORe’s 2011 merger with RANWC contributed to its current size, and the success of the merger – not only is MORe utilizing its size for the aforementioned programs for members, but through consolidation of administrative positions and streamlining of services during the merger, it was able to avoid an increase of member dues for 2012-2013 – the question seems to be if other Realtor associations should consider merging; and coincidentally, such were the discussions that NSBAR engaged in with CAR in early 2012, though as with past discussions between the two associations, it did not result in a merger.

Though Penza could not comment specifically on why the merger talks stalled, she said that both sides remain “open to discussing it,” though in her opinion, no merger will be debated unless NSBAR members support it. Too often, she says, firms resort to mergers for purely financial reasons, and the employees and/or members of the merging entities get left out of the discussion.

“The key is, what do the majority of the members want?” Penza says.

Going forward with MORe, Corder is in an interesting position as president. Though she is serving only the second presidential term in the newly-merged association’s history – Tom Krettler, broker associate with RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, and Jack Persin, the managing broker of Ryan Hill Realty, served as MORe’s co-presidents for the 2011-2012 term – she is, for all intents and purposes, the association’s first post-merger president, with Krettler and Persin’s tenure being spent working out the “bumps and aches,” as Corder calls it, of the merger. But now that the merger, and all its kinks, has been worked out, Corder is looking forward to establishing a member-driven precedent that all future presidents of MORe will pursue, and building and bettering the association in the process.

“Now that we are merged, we need to move forward,” she says. “I want us as an association to finally say, ‘Hey members, we’re here for you. What do you need? We want to provide what it is that you perceive you need.’ We want them to tell us what can we do better for them this year. We want to build our relevancy up with our members, whatever role that is. And maybe it’s not the traditional role that we’ve been in; it may be something different, we don’t know. We’re going to find that out from our members [and ask], ‘What exactly do you need from your association?’”

And the way Corder plans to answer that question is through engagement, particularly with MORe’s minority members, who she hopes to inspire to take a greater action with the board; in fact, it’s one of the main initiatives she would like to be remembered for as president.

“I want to be able to pull in members that are there that may not even come into the board or have a need for the board, but I want to get them more involved with the board,” Corder says. “I want to reach out to the Hispanics, the Asians, the African-Americans.”

“With our Board of Directors,” she continues, “I want to look around and see leadership. We’re looking for leaders, and we’re looking for diversification, not just one group of leaders or anything like that, and we want to make sure that some of those minority members that maybe have not been in a leadership position, but have the skills necessary to get there, that we can develop those skills so they can be future leaders too in the association.” C.A.

Tonya Corder

Keller Williams Preferred Realty

708.798.1111

thcorder@msn.com

Pam Krieter

Mainstreet Organization of Realtors

630.324.8420

pam@succeedwithmore.com

Terry Penza

North Shore-Barrington Association of Realtors

847.480.7177

terry@nsbar.org

Rob Schaid

RE/MAX Plaza

815.363.2442

rob@leaphome.com

Gerri Keating

Oak Park Area Association of Realtors

708.386.0150

gkeating@oakparkrealtors.org

Erin Mandel

@properties

312.399.0848

erin@atproperties.com

Ginger Downs

Chicago Association of Realtors

312.214.2172

gdowns@chicagorealtor.com