NAIOP Maryland has named E.J. Edelman, Financial Advisory Services Manager for RSM US, LLP and Meghan Roy, Vice President for MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, LLC as Co-Chairs of the real estate association’s Membership Committee. The two professionals succeed Taylor Fields, Vice President of Leasing at Knott Realty Group who held the position since 2011 and guided NAIOP to its highest membership total with more than 380 current members.
“There exists tremendous competition for professional memberships in the real estate-related and business-oriented industries regionally, so it is critical to maintain strong leadership that can execute effective strategies to recruit and retain members,” explained Brendan Gill, President of NAIOP Maryland. “EJ and Meghan are strong communicators, passionate about our Chapter and understand the extreme importance of their roles. We have complete confidence in their abilities to continue the momentum established by Taylor Fields and his immediate predecessor, Dianna Wilhelm.”
Under Fields and his ten-person committee, membership in NAIOP Maryland grew nearly 20 per cent over the past five years, in addition to increasing participation in the Chapter’s “Partnership in Excellence” program by nearly 70%. Based on this influx of new members, the Chapter elevated from medium-size to large-size status last year.
Among several new tactics implemented by the Membership Committee in recent years was the creation of the Ambassador Committee, which helps ease new members into the association by assigning them a specific liaison, as well as the development of the Chapter’s Mentoring Program which pairs young professionals with established industry veterans. Connie Rhodes of Rhodes Development, LLC is Chair of the Sponsorship Committee, which works to attract “Partnership in Excellence” participants and also interfaces closely with the Membership group.
“This succession of leadership brings two enthusiastic professionals into an important position of the Chapter and, together with a tremendous support system around them, positions NAIOP Maryland for continued membership growth,” Gill added.
More than 380 professionals are involved in NAIOP Maryland, comprised of companies and individuals working in development, investment, construction, brokerage, asset management, finance, architecture, engineering and legal services.
NAIOP is the nation’s leading trade association for developers, owners, investors and other professionals in industrial, office and mixed-use commercial real estate. Comprising 18,000 members in 55 chapters, it provides networking opportunities, educational programs, research on trends and innovations and strong legislative representation.
