Sowa: The first was on the brand side. NAIOP is no longer an acronym, so there’s still some confusion by people. [I met with] a legislator and he mentioned, “You realtors do a nice job.” We certainly have brokers as members, but there is another organization for realtors. That really resonated with me in terms of assuring that the people we are speaking with truly understand what we are and the people we represent. NAIOP as an organization represents commercial real estate, be it office, industrial or mixed-use projects. I was concerned that our message, while it’s loud and clear, may get muted because people don’t really understand who we are.

It’s critical to understand which issues are important. We can’t be all things to all people at all times. But we do need to know that the people with whom we are speaking truly understand who we are. The same applies internally with our own membership base. There should be no confusion about who we are. There are nuances within the organization that would be great to have the membership fully understand. Those things will change over time, depending on where legislation is heading and what our thoughts are regarding a piece of legislation.

Another [goal] is to focus on outside trade organizations. We represent approximately 530 members in the New Jersey chapter of NAIOP, and if we align ourselves with other organizations, it will make our voice that much louder.

GlobeSt.com: And that segues into the events you plan to support the brand.

Sowa: That’s exactly right. Again, it’s not enough to just have members join every year. If we can’t keep them engaged, and have a solid value proposition, our chances for retention are quite low. The idea is that if we have timely and topical events, and get good attendance, one will feed on the other. Our members will come for the content and the networking, but it will also help with sponsorships and attracting other prospective members.

GlobeSt.com: Goal number three entails building on the relationship with Rutgers. Why Rutgers?

Sowa: The chapter is headquartered in New Brunswick, so part of it is proximity. [They also] have an excellent real estate planning department, so it is a great affiliation to forge with them and expand upon. Prof. Joseph J. Seneca was at our annual forecast and did a great job. And we’ve had others from Rutgers get involved. They have students who are interested in real estate, and our members certainly have opportunities for those students.

It could be a good experience for the students, coming in as employees or interns. My experience has been that whenever we have an intern, they bring great energy and creativity. They haven’t been jaded, if you will, by years in the business. It’s great to have a fresh look and at times they come up with ideas that at least challenge how and why we do things.

GlobeSt.com: Does that link into your next goal--technology?

Sowa: The staff does an excellent job, but if technology can help sustain what they’re handling then they will be free to do other things. For example, if we can do something like send meetings electronically, so that when you register it pops up on your calendar with the time, location and who’s speaking, that’s a great use of technology. The alternative is to have somebody sign up and plug all of that information in and then replicate it in our calendars. To the extent that technology can make it easy on the staff and the members, we need to get that done. We’ve been updating the website over the past few years. It should be done continuously--reflecting changes in technology and information. It should always be a work in progress.

GlobeSt.com: Your next goals involve expanding the membership geographically and demographically. Do you have specific targets?

Sowa: We want to be realistic. As far as geographically, you really need to separate out pure numbers. Northern New Jersey has so many more real estate developers and associates than Southern New Jersey. But we’ve already had some members join from Southern and Central New Jersey.

We want to make sure that when we speak it's with one voice. It’s important, especially when we’re meeting with legislators who represent the entire state, for them to know we speak on behalf of the entire state. The legislation that is passed or pending has implications statewide, and we need to be sure what’s good for the north is also good for the south and vice versa. We shouldn’t just represent one particular interest. It should be statewide.

GlobeSt.com: Are you relieved that you’re president for these two years rather than the past two?

Sowa: Jeff did a fantastic job, particularly given the challenges out there in the industry and the state of the economy. It’s a different set of challenges now. We actually see some early signs of recovery in certain markets, submarkets and sectors. We just have to continue to build on that momentum. But if you look at the economic data we’re still off on jobs in New Jersey, and job creation is also miniscule. So challenges certain remain.