My first goal is to retain and cultivate relationships with our Associate and Affiliate members. Mike Schaeffer, MAI, with assistance from Chip Wagner, SRA, chairs the Membership retention and Development committee.  They are available and very responsive to your questions.  In this era of telecommunications, we must remember there is simply no substitute for personal contact.   What is often viewed as a “good old boys” network is a camaraderie established by mutual need from the pre Co-Star^TM days.  Few associates seldom see or talk to one another.  I hope to foster a spirit of hospitality and keep our associates connected to the Chapter.  To that end, our special events Chair, John McMahon, SRA, with assistance from our educational coordinator, Melissa Krisztal, are planning a series of after hours social events. 

My next goal is to keep our classrooms effectively utilized.   Our Chapter is blessed with many dedicated appraisers who freely give of their time, energy and resources which is one of the main reasons we continue to be the appraisal education leader.  Our instructors are nationally recognized, our new facility is state of the art, and our energized staff is the envy of other chapters.  This year LA Anderson, our Executive Director, will celebrate her 20^th anniversary with the Chicago Chapter.

As you know, the new Appraisal Qualification Board courses (AQB) are currently in place as of January 1, 2008.  The core curriculum of the Appraisal Institute coincides directly with the AQB requirements.  We are working closely with Joe Magdiarz, MAI, National Education Chair for the Appraisal Institute and Ron DeVries, MAI to formulate new educational offerings.

Finally, I intend to promote the respectability of our designations which we hope will become even more valuable as the global marketplace moves from book value to market value.  Our new Public Relations Chair, Mark Polach, General Associate Member, will direct his efforts toward promoting our membership.

As I have served on the State Appraisal Board for the past few years my eyes have been opened to the problems facing our profession ranging from blatant fraud to identity theft.  Chicago Chapter Members that have a seat on the State Board also include;  David DuBois, MAI, Bob Gorman, MAI, TJ McCarthy, SRA, and Maureen Sweeny, SRA who are serving our membership by helping to protect the public’s trust in our profession.

I am dedicated to the service of our members and hope my goals are consistent with yours.  We all know the success of any organization is dependent upon its membership.  Please get involved.

Sincerely,

Patrick M. Kelly, MAI