GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Corfac's New President Outlines Year Ahead

ARLINGTON, VA-Global real estate network of independent firms and affiliates Corfac International has begun the New Year with new president John M. Owen III, senior vice president and managing partner of the Anaheim, CA office of 10-year Corfac member Voit Commercial Brokerage. Stepping up from his position as Corfac vice president, Owen–an industry veteran of nearly a quarter-century who got his start in commercial real estate at Grubb and Ellis Commercial Brokerage Group, and who later left his mark at the Irvine Co. and Cushman & Wakefield–takes the reigns over from previous president Robert E. Porter Jr.

Corfac has outlined its goals 2004 via a new theme, Back to Basics, and Owen’s plans as president are very much in line with this premise, which focuses on marshaling existing resources to increase business. “My role as president is to expand the organization and carry on the good work from the last few years,” Owen tells GlobeSt.com. In the past year alone, Corfac increased the breadth of its operations to include five new markets, including Mexico City, Greensboro, NC, Las Vegas, Little Rock, AR, and St. Louis. The plan is to continue establishing relationships in previously untapped territories.

But expansion plans extend beyond growing Corfac’s territory list, which consists of 60 markets in the US, Canada and Mexico. “We want to leverage Corfac resources, to connect the dots on member firms through an intranet,” Owen explains. “We’re reworking it to make the computer system more powerful and user-friendly. We’re working on putting together resources to help enable target marketing. It’s all part of the challenge we’re incorporating into our Corfac platform.”