Clark Finney, an associate at Cushman & Wakefield, proved his mettle in REBNY's view. He was presented with the yearly award by Studley's William Montana, chairman of REBNY's commercial board, at the association's biannual luncheon last Wednesday. To hear Finney tell it, the accolade was a product of the training his C&W mentors provided him.

"I learned from my team—specifically, my senior partners John Cefaly, Bob Lowe and Gus Field," Finney tells GlobeSt.com. When he began his tenure at C&W three years ago, "we were at the height of the market, and now arguably we're at the bottom. But nothing has changed in terms of my day-to-day work ethic and the way that I attack each day and each problem. That's a result of how they trained me to take a very methodical, analytical approach." The self-starter acumen that has impressed Finney's colleagues was something he brought to the equation, having co-founded a web-based financial services tool called Marketclocks.com upon his graduation from Washington and Lee University in 2006.

However, Finney acknowledges that the changing market conditions did call upon different skills than were required at the 2007 peak, especially as his senior partners made him point person on several major accounts. "In 2009, I had to focus my efforts to come out with results that I did," he says. "I had to dig in and understand my client's business as best as possible: how what they do impacts their results and is reflected in the real estate they require."