There are a lot of things that people know about the Inland Group of Cos. (RECon booth C1027). It is one of the biggest names in commercial real estate with usually a ravenous appetite for acquisitions that have made the firm's combined subsidiaries one of the most formidable open-air shopping center portfolios in the country.

But what do people in the industry maybe not know about Inland? We thought it would be interesting to find out from Joseph Cosenza, the firm's co-founder and vice chairman. And below had some pretty interesting information to tell us.

On the firm's history: “Not everybody knows that Inland was originally started 47 years ago by four school teachers. We did it part time for about seven years. Then we all had to go full time because the business got too busy, and we couldn't do it at recess or lunch time or after 3:15. So we all left and went full time.